Naruto Shippuuden 17: Blood and Roses
by rylansato
Summary: A village is attacked by ten unknown assailants. Word of this attack reaches Konoha and Tsunade sends a team out to track them down and eliminate them.
1. Ten Red Clouds

Naruto Shippuuden: Blood and Roses

It was a dark, foggy night in the Fire Country. Fog wasn't an uncommon occurrence along the southern shore of the Fire Country. This particular village housed a feudal lord's sister. The village itself was a wealthy, decent sized village but still had comparison to Konoha. It was surrounded by large wooden walls and a single gate was the village's only means of entry. Three guards stood at the village's entrance. One on either side of the gate and the third stood in between them. They remained alert waiting for anyone to come through. However at this time of night it was extremely rare for anyone to come by. They had at least a few more hours before their shift change. Needless to say, it was boring. The one in the middle stepped forward a bit. The other two looked at him quizzically.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard something. It sounded like a bell."

"Nah, it's just your imagination."

At that moment all three of them heard the sound of a bell. They all stood ready. Ahead of them they could see the silhouette of ten figures.

"Identify yourself."

The group of figures said nothing. The three guards heard the sounds of hand seals being made and a seal completion sound.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Great Fireball Technique)

A gigantic fireball was launched towards the guards at a high rate of speed. They didn't have anytime to react before being engulfed by it. The attack alarmed the rest of the village. Explosions and screams erupted everywhere throughout the village. A man ran into a room with a bird's cage in it. He pulled his camera from his neck and pulled out the film in it and put it in the small case on the birds back along with a message.

"None of us will make it out alive and pictures are the next best thing. I have to get this to the Hidden Leaf." He said to himself.

The bird flew out the window away from the fiery village.

Meanwhile in the Hidden Leaf village, Shuji sat on the steps of a house across the street from his mother's old house. He rested his arms on his knees and just stared at the house. His two swords were 

propped up against the wall next to him and his head protector rested on the step next to his foot. He had a handful of rocks in his right hand just leisurely tossing them out into the dirt road.

"So tomorrow is your birthday." Shuji said at the house. "I'm not exactly sure how old you would be. Clearly, not Tsunade-sama's age but I'd guess at least in your thirties."

There was no response from the house. Nor would there ever be.

_I wonder what things would be like if she lived. Or if the Uchiha clan still existed. This village seems to be full of broken families. _

He stood up and tossed the remaining rocks on the ground. He grabbed his forehead protector and two swords and walked out of the old Uchiha district. He walked up the street and saw Satori and Yukino walking towards him.

"What are you two doing out this late?" Shuji asked.

"Walking." Satori said.

"I see that but it's late."

"Not really. We're always out late." Yukino said.

"Have you talked to Hanako yet?" Satori asked.

"About what?"

Satori's expression fell. He looked at Shuji with an obvious look on his face.

Once Shuji realized what Satori meant he shook his head. Satori also shook his head but his was in disappointment. Yukino lightly elbowed Satori.

"Leave him be. He'll talk to Hanako when the time is right." She said. "However, I do suggest that you do get on the ball."

Shuji grinned at the fact that Yukino was slightly on his side.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the night?" Satori asked.

"Just relaxing. I might head to the hot springs chill there for a bit."

"Chill wouldn't be the proper term for going to the hot springs." Satori said with a smile.

"Fair enough. I'll see you both later."

The two of them began to walk away from one another when they heard a bird up in the sky. They all looked up to see a messenger bird.

"Come on; let's get out of here before we're picked for that mission." Satori said.

Tsunade sat in her office getting ready to leave for the night. She was tired and wanted to leave. She stood up from her desk when there was a knock at the door.

"What?" She said annoyed.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Tsunade-sama but we just received a message from the village that runs along the southern shore." Shizune said.

"Doesn't one of the feudal lord's sisters reside there?"

"Yes, ma'am. It was attacked."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "By whom?"

"We don't know. The message said unknown attackers but a roll of film was encased with the message. We have a team developing the film right now and should be done shortly."

"Good. Bring me the pictures when they are finished."

Shizune nodded before leaving. Tsunade sat back in her chair and turned around to face the window.

_What is going on?_

A few minutes later, Shizune returned with the pictures. She handed them to the Fifth Hokage. Tsunade's eyes widened at the images she saw. She slammed the pictures down on the table.

"Bring me Shiranui Satori and Yohaku Junshin."

"Right away, Tsunade-sama."

Satori lied with Yukino on a grassy hill. The two of them were halfway asleep when Yukino felt a presence near them. She opened her eyes to see Shizune standing over them. Satori opened his eyes as well and then a look of annoyance spread across his face.

"What is it now? You all seem to find me with incredible ease."

"You don't go anywhere else other than the ramen shop or your house."

Satori sighed knowing she was right.

"What is it, Shizune?"

"Tsunade-sama, requests your appearance immediately."

"What's it about?"

"I'll leave the explanations to her."

"Fine."

Junshin lied in bed fast asleep. He had finally got to sleep an hour ago. His sleep was disturbed by someone tapping on his window. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was Shizune at his bedroom window. He leaned up and opened it.

"You know Shizune, it's usually the girlfriend that sneaks in to my bedroom through the window."

"My apologies for waking you but Tsunade-sama requests you to report to her at once."

Junshin nodded as he got out of bed.

Shortly later, Junshin and Satori stood in front of Tsunade.

"So what couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Satori asked.

Without saying anything, Tsunade handed Satori a few pictures. As soon as he took one look at them his eyes widened. Junshin looked at them too and had the same reaction. The pictures they saw were of ten figures wearing straw hats and black cloaks with red clouds on them.


	2. Out Scouting Around

"This doesn't make any sense." Satori said. "Akatsuki were originally ten ninjas. How can they have ten members when at least four of them are dead and one of them left years ago? That would leave them with five members."

"They must have one hell of a waiting list?"

"Eleven." Tsunade said.

"What?"

"Eleven. Akatsuki had eleven members including their leader."

"Ok so it leaves them with six but that still isn't ten." Satori said.

"I don't know anymore about this attack or why there are more members than there should be than you do." Tsunade said. "One thing is certain and that is to eliminate them."

"So what are our orders?" Junshin asked.

"I'm going to send only you two out scouting. I want you to find them and try to figure out what their planning. I don't want you to engage them. If this is Akatsuki then you two alone won't stand a chance. Once you figure out their plans, get away from them and report back to me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." They said in unison.

"When do we leave?" Junshin asked.

"Once you're ready."

The two Jonins headed for the door. Satori turned around back towards the Fifth Hokage.

"Do we get overtime for this?"

"NO!"

"Damn it." He said turning back around and heading out the door.

They walked out of the Hokage building thinking about their next course of action.

"We both run back to our houses and grab our gear. We'll meet at the gates in ten." Satori said.

"Got it." Junshin said.

They both leapt into the air in opposite directions. Satori arrived at his house moments later. He walked into his room and grabbed his sai belt off its hook. He grabbed a few scrolls and put them into his Jonin vest. He slid his black gloves over his hands. He loaded his leg and hip pouch with kunai and shuriken. He even grabbed a senbon and put it in his mouth.

"I think that's everything." He said before leaving his room.

Junshin arrived at his place around the same time that Satori arrived at his. He slid a few metallic bracelets onto his wrists. He loaded both leg and hip pouches and attached them to their respective areas. He looked around the room as he headed out and saw his Jonin vest hanging from a hook on the wall. A vest he never wore.

"Ah what the hell?" He said walking over to it.

Satori walked out of his house and almost ran into Junshin. Satori looked at his house and then back to Junshin.

"Last time I checked my house wasn't considered the main gates."

"I stopped by to say goodbye to Tenten."

"I figured." Satori said. He then noticed Junshin's new look.

"Did you do something with your hair? I mean it looks different with your forehead protector around your forehead now. I mean of course it is a forehead protector not a between the shoulder blades protector. Plus you're wearing your Jonin vest I mean wow the ladies might go after you now. Nee-chan's going to be jealous."

Junshin shook his head as Satori smiled.

"Well, I don't care about the other women. I do have your sister though."

Now it was Satori's turn to shake his head. He leapt into the air as Junshin walked into the house. Junshin quietly crept into Tenten's room. He was practically over top of her when she opened her eyes.

"I knew you were there." She said.

"Oh?"

"Satori came in just before he left."

"Ah. So you know where we're going?"

Tenten nodded. "Yeah and I want you both to be careful. I don't know what would happen if I lost the two most important guys in my life."

"Nothing is going to happen to me."

"Don't say that. If you do then something usually will."

"Ok then something is going to happen to me."

"Don't say that either."

"Then what would you want me to say?"

"Just shut up and kiss me."

The two of them leaned in for a kiss.

Satori found Junshin's idea to be a good one. He decided to stop by Yukino's place before going on this scouting mission. It's true that it was only a scouting mission and they were not to engage Akatsuki at any time. However, what they plan and how things really turn out tend to be two separate things. He arrived at her house and used his chakra to stick to the side of the wall. He walked up the wall to her open window. Yukino lied in her bed fast asleep. Only she knew what she was dreaming about. However, her dreams faded quickly into the back of her subconscious as she felt something lightly touch her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes to see Satori standing over her.

"Satori-kun."

"I can't stay long but I stopped by to see you before I went on my mission."

A smile spread across her sleepy face. Satori placed both hands on the sides of her face and rested his forehead against hers, both of them had their eyes closed.

"I want you to be careful out there." She whispered.

"I will." He replied also whispering.

"I want to see you when you return."

"Don't worry, you will."

The lower parts of their faces leaned towards each other as they kissed. Satori broke the kiss a few moments later and headed for the window. He placed a foot on the windowsill and had both hands grasped onto the sides. He turned back to her and smiled.

"I love you."

Yukino felt as if her heart stopped and she slightly turned red in the face. Satori knew he had caught her off guard but knew she thought the same thing. He then launched himself out into the night. Yukino leapt from her bed and watched Satori sail through the air.

"I love you too." She whispered to herself.

Junshin stood at the gates waiting for Satori. Seconds later, he arrived.

"You're late."

"Had to see Yukino."

"Figured. So where to first?"

"I say we head down to the attacked village and see what we can find out. Maybe we'll get lucky and run into them on the way. Let's go."

Hours later, the two Leaf Jonins leapt through the trees. As of yet they hadn't seen or heard anything and it was almost daybreak.

"Why is it that these guys are so damn troublesome?" Satori asked.

"You're startin' to sound like Shikamaru."

"It can't be helped. But seriously, these guys are starting to get on my nerves."

At that moment something caught Satori's attention. He stopped suddenly in his tracks along with Junshin.

"What is it?"

Satori raised a head to silence Junshin. He looked as if he were focused in on something. Then Junshin picked up on it. They both were picking up the chakra that someone was emanating nearby.

"That chakra doesn't seem too friendly." Junshin said.

Satori nodded. "Come on, let's get closer."

The two of them leapt from tree to tree trying to get closer to the chakra's source without being noticed. They finally leapt into another tree that put them in clear sight of the chakra source. It was definitely coming from the ten Akatsuki members.

"It's them alright." Junshin whispered.

Satori noticed one of them slightly raising their head to look towards their position.

"Shit." Satori said in a heightened whisper.

The Akatsuki member looked up to Satori and Junshin's position but didn't see anything. He returned his head to its normal position. Satori and Junshin had quickly leapt from the tree down to the bushes below.

"That was close." Satori said still whispering.

Junshin nodded. The two of them slightly poked their heads up to keep the Bijuu chasers in sight. Satori then noticed something.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…where's the tenth?"

He felt a third presence behind them. He slowly turned around to see that one of the Akatsuki members had snuck up behind them and now was bringing his fist down on them. Their position erupted in a giant cloud of dirt, dust and rock.


	3. Gathered Information

Satori and Junshin had leapt away just in time. An Akatsuki member appeared behind Junshin, ready to strike him down with his sword. Junshin spun around, grabbed the sword, molded it into a pair of shackles and wrapped it around his attacker's arms, disabling them. The Akatsuki member however wasn't finished. He kicked Junshin in the chest and sent flying towards another member. Satori came rushing in and intercepted Junshin before the Akatsuki member could get his hands on him. Satori and Junshin gave themselves some distance between them and the Akatsuki.

"Something is strange about these guys." Satori said.

"Like what?"

"I do know a little bit about some of the members on Akatsuki. One of them was a puppeteer named Sasori but Sakura killed him. Another is Uchiha Itachi and I don't see him here. Not to mention his partner Hoshigaki Kisame. He sticks out like a sore thumb with his big ass sword. Something isn't right."

"We need to get out of here." Junshin said.

"Agreed."

"You're not going anywhere. Anyone who encounters Akatsuki will die."

"I refuse to believe that you're Akatsuki. If so what is your mission?"

"To kill you." A voice said behind them.

Satori and Junshin looked back to see the same Akatsuki member from before behind them again. The two of them leapt out of his attack range. Satori felt someone appear behind him. He looked back to see another member behind him getting ready to kick him. Satori put up his hands to block the kick. Satori waited for this guy to attack but he wasn't moving. Then, Satori was hit from above. The leaf ninja slammed into the ground. Junshin wasn't doing much better. He did his best to dodge the attacks that were thrown his way. He was kicked in the back and sent over to Satori's position.

"We're severely outnumbered." Junshin said.

"So it's five to one odds. We can take 'em." Satori said smiling.

Two Akatsuki members charged in with their weapons drawn. They swung down on the two Jonins only for their weapons to be stopped by two other blades. One normal, the other reverse. The two Akatsuki members looked surprised but disappointed.

"Who are you?"

"The Ghost of Konoha. Anzen Shuji." Shuji said looking at them with his Sharingan eyes.

Shuji kicked them in their chests, sending them backwards, causing them to regroup. They looked as if they were going to attack again.

"Now…we run." Satori said.

The three leaf ninjas leapt away with the Akatsuki chasing after them.

"So how do we get them off our backs?" Shuji asked.

"Gotta idea." Junshin said.

He molded the bracelets off his wrist and into a ball. He tossed it back at the pursuing Akatsuki. The ball bounced off a tree limb and into the face of one of the members.

"Shit." He said.

"Katsu!"

The ball exploded right in his face. Junshin's pace slowed down and his breathing became heavy as his chakra was drained from that attack. Satori grabbed him as they were able to get away from Akatsuki.

The nine other members huddled around the one on the ground. His face seemed a bit destroyed but something was going on. His face fragments were moving from the ground and back onto his face. After a few moments, his face was finally reformed. Afterwards, he stood up and placed his hat back on his head. His eyes hiding behind the cloth strips hanging from the hat.

"They may have gotten away now but we'll see them again.

Shuji, Satori and Junshin stood in front of Tsunade in her office. Junshin's chakra was slowly recovering. He wasn't breathing as heavy as he was before.

"One thing is for certain, Hokage-sama." Satori said. "These are the original Akatsuki members. They're strong but they aren't them. With the research I've done on Akatsuki none of them fit the description of the actual members."

"They're like Akatsuki wannabes. They had the red cloud cloaks with the straw hats but they weren't actually them."

"It doesn't mean that we can ignore them either." Junshin said. "Like Satori said, they're strong but we had no choice but to engage them when they found us. We didn't have anytime to counter their attacks."

Tsunade hid the lower half of her face behind her folded hands. One could tell that she was thinking of her next plan of attack.

"We will take the fight to them. I don't want another village destroyed by them. I want you to assemble a team of at least fifteen. Get whomever you can. I don't care if it's Genin, Chuunin or Jonin. Assemble your team today and leave tomorrow morning. Find Akatsuki and eliminate them. Understood?"

The three stood at attention. "Yes, Hokage-sama." The three said in unison.

"Dismissed." She said.

The three of them walked out of the office. Satori was almost out the door when Tsunade called for him.

"Satori, stay for a moment."

Satori wasn't sure what she wanted but he approached her again. Her facial expression didn't change so he knew she meant business.

"Satori, I know that these may not be the real Akatsuki members but no matter what I want you and your team to be careful. We've lost good ninjas to Akatsuki and I'd like to not lose anymore. What I want you to do is once you gather the team members; I want you to take them out. It will be my treat. I don't want to lose any ninjas but if we were to lose one then I'd want their last night in Konoha to be a decent one. The reason I tell you this is because you know what it's like to lose a friend in battle. Ironically enough, it was against Akatsuki."

Images of Nara Arihiro flashed through Satori's head.

"Are you expecting us to get our asses kicked?" Satori asked.

"No I am not. But I'm preparing for the worst. Other than Sasuke, Akatsuki is our biggest threat. This other Akatsuki group probably has ties to the real Akatsuki. And you said that they are strong so I don't want to take any chances with Akatsuki. Tomorrow is the time for battle but for tonight, I want you and your team to relax and have a good time. In all honesty it might be the last time any of you get. I sense a storm coming and it's going to be big."

Satori didn't say anything. He smiled, nodded and turned to leave.


	4. A Night of Memories and Laughter

Satori walked out of the Hokage Mansion to see that Shuji and Junshin were waiting for him.

"What was that all about?" Junshin asked.

"She told me after we gather our team; we are to take a night on the town on her tab. She wants us to have fun tonight before our battle tomorrow."

"So who do we get?" Shuji asked.

"Whomever we can find. We won't take no for answer." Satori said.

"Let's split up and we'll meet in front of Ichiraku's in one hour." Junshin said.

The other two nodded and they all leapt into the air in separate directions. Shuji was the first to find a person. It was Hanako. She was walking down the street and from the looks of it she was headed home.

"Hanako-san." Shuji called.

She turned around to see the half Uchiha land in front of her.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Satori, Junshin and I have a big mission tomorrow and we need people. So far it's just us three and we need at least fifteen."

"Count me in." She said.

"Good, now follow me. Because of the importance of this mission, Tsunade is treating the entire team tonight before we leave tomorrow."

The two of them leapt into the air to find more ninjas. Satori was the next to find a person. It was no surprise to anyone that he'd find Yukino. She was at her house after all. Yukino was putting clothes away in her closet with her back to her window. Satori sat at the window for a few moments before she realized that he was there. It rather surprised her.

"What's up, Satori?" She said.

"Oh nothing. The usual. Just out drafting people for our mission tomorrow. Wanna join?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, follow me." He said leaping out her window with her in tow.

Junshin found Tenten along with Masaki and Ishida.

_Lucky for me I found three at the same time._

"Hey, you three." He called.

The three of them looked up to see Junshin falling from the sky. A smile grew on Tenten's face. He placed a kiss on her lips before getting down to business.

"Shuji, Satori and I are going on a mission tomorrow and we need more ninjas. They're out looking for more people."

Before Junshin could say anymore he had gained three more ninjas to their squad. An hour later, Junshin, Satori and Shuji all returned with a group of ninjas. Shuji had found Hanako, Yaiba, Inuzuka Hana, Rock Lee, Rikku, and Shigekazu. Junshin found Tenten, Ishida, Masaki, and Suzume. Satori and found Yukino, Iruka, Tsuku and Kanaye.

"So what now?" Iruka asked.

"Now we eat. I hope Hokage-sama will be able to afford this." Satori said with a grin.

"Of course I can." Tsunade said walking up behind them. "I'm the Fifth Hokage."

"Of course, she wouldn't be able to before she became Hokage." Satori whispered to Yukino.

"What was that, Satori?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

After finding a place the eighteen of them talked about anything and everything except for tomorrow's mission.

"Hey remember the time when Satori-kun stole the roll cakes after throwing Shuji into Hanako?" Junshin said.

Satori laughed. "Yeah those roll cakes were pretty good."

"Are you ever going to answer my question about your chuunin exam match?" Junshin asked.

Satori's smile faded. He leaned back in his chair and thought about it for a second. "Well I guess it can't be helped."

FLASHBACK

Shikamaru stood in front of everybody in center of the stage for the Chuunin exam.

"The first match is Satori and Ryoketsu." Shikamaru said.

The rest of the fighters walked up to the stand by platform to await the end of the fight and their own turn. Satori and Ryoketsu turned to each other. They faced down each other waiting for the signal to start.

"Begin." Shikamaru said.

Ryoketsu was the first to move. He launched kunai and shurikens at Satori. Satori ducked and launched his own. Ryoketsu moved his hands doing hand seals.

"Doton: Doryū Taiga." (Earth Release: Earth Flow River) He said as a mud river formed beneath Satori and sent him rushing into the wall. Satori slammed into the wall.

Ryoketsu did more hand seals.

"Doton: Doryūdan" (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet)

A dragon's head formed next to Ryoketsu and fired mud balls at Satori. Satori leapt into the air to avoid the attack. The river faded and Satori landed a few feet away from Ryoketsu. Satori stood there staring at the Horizon ninja. Satori was breathing a bit heavily due to the fact he just ran around the arena avoiding the Ryoketsu's tactics. Ryoketsu eyed Satori waiting for an attack. Satori decided it was better now than never. He moved his hands performing hand seals. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.

"KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

He lifted his hand and shot fire towards his opponent. From Satori's point of view it looked as if Ryoketsu was engulfed in the flame but when the flame died down the ninja was gone.

"Where the hell did he go?" Satori asked.

"Below."

Satori's eyes shot below him just in time to see a hand shoot out and grab him by his ankle.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no jutsu." (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique)

Just then Satori was pulled into the ground. Only his head remained above ground.

"Looks like I win." Ryoketsu said.

Just then, Satori disappeared in a puff of smoke. The hole in the ground was now empty. Ryoketsu's eyes widened. Then he heard a voice behind him.

"KATON: HOSENKA NO JUTSU!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)

Ryoketsu turned around to see fireballs headed straight towards him. He leapt to the side and avoided the fireballs. He watched the fireballs fly by then he felt a horrible pain on the back of his head. Satori came up and kicked him in the back of the head. Ryoketsu slammed into the ground. He shot back to his feet and looked back at Satori. Satori put his hands in front of him. His left arm was horizontal and his right arm was vertical with his index and middle fingers extending from both and intersecting each other.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Satori said as 4 clones of himself appeared.

Ryoketsu grinned, then charged towards them. The five Satoris ran towards their opponent. One clone threw a punch and missed. Ryoketsu kicked that clone in the face. The clone disappeared. Another clone attack from above. Ryoketsu moved from out from underneath the attacker. The clone landed but was kicked in the chest and it disappeared. The remaining three attacked at once. Ryoketsu grabbed one of the clones and threw it into the other two. The three Satoris landed on their backs. Ryoketsu reached into his back pouch and pulled out little packets. He threw the packets at his opponents. The packets exploded on impact and covered the three Satoris in a brown colored substance. Ryoketsu pulled out a pack of matches. He lit the pack of matches and threw it at Satori and his clones. One of the Satoris leapt to his feet and jumped out of the fire. The two clones caught fire and disappeared. Satori pulled out his two sai from his belt and stood ready. Ryoketsu threw a kunai at the Leaf ninja. Satori spit his senbon at the kunai and knocked the kunai off course. Satori shot to his feet and when he looked up he saw that Ryoketsu wasn't there. Just then Ryoketsu appeared behind Satori and grabbed him by his head. Satori dropped his two sai and grabbed at his hands. Satori was in a bind. He couldn't do any fire jutsu because he was covered in flammable substance and Ryoketsu had a hold of Satori by the head and could easily break his neck.

"Examiner, if you're going to stop me, do it now or other wise I'm breaking his neck." Ryoketsu said.

As Ryoketsu was talking Satori noticed that he and Ryoketsu were in a puddle of the flammable substance and that a trail of it came off of the side and curved out in front of him. He had to use that to his advantage. Shikamaru attempted to move but Satori stopped him.

"Don't move, Shikamaru." Satori demanded.

Shikamaru sighed. Tenten and Hanako looked to one another.

"What is he up to?" Hanako asked. Tenten shrugged. Then Arihiro noticed something.

"Look! He's doing hand seals." He said.

"Isn't that the seal of the tiger?" Hanako asked.

"Yeah it is, but he can't do any Katon jutsu because of that substance he's covered in." Tenten said.

"He's going to do anyway." Hanako said.

"Any last words before I kill you?" Ryoketsu asked.

"Yeah I have some. KATON: HOSENKA NO JUTSU." (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)

Satori shot multiple fire balls and hit the trail. The fire sped towards the two combatants.

"You fool. You'll kill us both." Ryoketsu let go of Satori and jumped out of the way. Satori leapt out of the way before the fire got there. Unfortunately his shirt did catch fire. He ripped off his shirt and threw it at Ryoketsu as a distraction. The Horizon ninja knocked away and saw Satori practically on top of him. He grabbed Satori and threw him into the wall. He then clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. Five square shaped stone beams came out and wrapped around Satori binding him to the wall. He tried to move but it was no use. Ryoketsu charged with a drawn kunai.

"Stop the match is over." Shikamaru called.

Ryoketsu ignored him. He kept running full speed at Satori. He was only feet away when he stopped abruptly. He then noticed a shadow running from him to Shikamaru.

"Kage mane no jutsu successful." He said. "I said the match was over. Satori is bound to the wall and can't move. He is incapable of fighting back so therefore the match is over."

Satori lowered his head.

_I lost._

END FLASHBACK

"So that's what happened?" Junshin asked.

Satori nodded. "I was the only one out of my team to lose my match. I typically don't like to think about it."

"Have you heard anything from Naruto's team, Tsunade-sama?" Shuji asked.

"They're due back sometime tomorrow." She replied.

"It seems like they've been gone for months." Satori said. "I hope everything is going well."

"They've reported no casualties and are currently on their way back."

Iruka looked around the table at the ninjas. He smiled as he thought back to the days of when they were in his academy class. He looked at Tenten and Satori, the twins that practically inseparable back then. Then he looked to Shuji, the half Uchiha. He glanced at Hanako, whose older sister was an ANBU captain. He did notice how Shuji was around Hanako. There was something there and he couldn't place it. He shifted his gaze over to Ishida and Masaki, the two remaining members of team 3 of that class. Their teammate Kuriyama Azumi was killed awhile ago on a mission against the Reapers. More specifically against the traitor Ronin. He looked at Junshin, Arihiro's replacement. Shortly after Junshin's arrival at Konoha, he got to know him through the special training that he gave Junshin. He then remembered how Arihiro was and that they were a bit similar in personality at times. Now that he thought about it he did bear a slight resemblance to Arihiro. He remembered how close Arihiro and Hanako were back when they were younger. He gazed around the table and couldn't help but smile at how proud he was at this group and how much they've grown.

"Hey, what are you smiling about?" Tsuku said.

Iruka slightly blushed. "Oh, its nothing."

Tsuku nodded as if he were allowing Iruka to believe that he bought that explanation.

"Hey, do you guys remember the time when we put paint all over the place and they couldn't figure out who did it so they had the rookies clean it up?" Satori asked.

"Yeah, that was a good time." Shuji said. "Even after the rookies would clean it up we'd go back and mess it all up again. They even came pretty close to finding out who was doing it but we were too fast for them."

"Satori-kun, didn't you use that sexy no jutsu on the Elders when they were yelling at Naruto about something?" Hanako asked.

"You did what?" Tsunade asked.

Satori laughed. "Yeah, I did. I forget why Naruto was getting reprimanded but they were on his case about something and it didn't seem right so I jumped in and did the sexy no jutsu and needless to say it distracted them alright."

"What is this sexy no jutsu?" Yukino asked.

"I'm surprised you've never heard of it." Shuji said.

"Only three people in the village know this technique. Naruto, Konohamaru and Satori."

"Can you show me this technique?" She asked.

Satori looked around the table and smiled. "Eh why not."

Satori stood up and placed his hands in the form of the Ram handseal.

"Henge."

In a cloud of smoke Satori transformed into a beautiful naked girl. Iruka placed his hands over his nose because he knew that he'd get a nose bleed from the sight. Junshin hadn't even seen this technique yet. He was astonished by it but his sight of it lasted a second because Tenten covered his eyes with her hand.

The female Satori ran her hands along Yukino's shoulders and down her arms.

"You know we can take this else where." Satori said in her very sexy voice.

She even placed a kiss on Yukino's face causing it to turn about as red as the Sharingan.

"Nii-chan." Tenten said.

"Alright, alright." Satori said as the naked girl disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the original Satori returned.

"Where did you learn that?" Yukino asked.

"Naruto taught me the technique back in the day. He agreed to teach me that and the Kage Bunshin in exchange for me treating him to ramen whenever he wanted."

The group laughed, talked and enjoyed themselves for the rest of the night. Tomorrow was a going to be hell for them. It was inevitable.


	5. Confrontation At Last

The seventeen ninja squad leapt through the trees at a high rate of speed. Satori led the way with Junshin right behind him. Hana even had her triplet wolves with her. Iruka broke formation and came up next to him.

"What's the plan?" He asked.

"We're taking the fight to them. None of this sneaking around. That stuff hardly ever works even with the most skilled ninjas."

"We're ninjas, we're supposed to sneak around." Junshin said.

"It doesn't work when we're spotted. Hell, they probably already know that we're coming. I read Shikamaru's report about the Sasuke retrieval mission and it said that they snuck up on the enemy and got really close but they were found out within seconds. We were found out when Junshin and I went scouting. Not to mention, with a large group such as ours, it's harder to conceal."

"So as soon as we see them, we're attacking?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah, so be ready at any time." Satori said.

Iruka nodded and dropped back into formation.

"There are ten of them and seventeen of us. We clearly outnumber them. Even with my Kage Bunshin and Hana's triplets we can take 'em." Satori said.

"What about pairings? Obviously, some of us are going to be paired up with somebody." Tenten said.

"I haven't really given the pairings much thought. It'd probably be best to play it out when that time comes.

"We really don't know what they're capable of." Junshin said.

"That is true but there have been plenty of missions where we've gone in blind and come out on top." Satori said.

"One thing is for certain. They're Akatsuki so they have some ungodly ability at their disposal." Suzume said.

"What do you mean?" Ishida asked.

"Well, when remember when Tsunade-sama sent that eighty ninja team out to find and eliminate those two Akatsuki members?"

Ishida nodded.

"Satori, Arihiro, Nori and I found them and we thought that we killed one of them by Satori punching his hand through the chest of one of them but the guy just laughed and was able to kill Arihiro." Suzume concluded.

"Kakashi later reported that the other one had five hearts and could do all elemental attacks. In order to kill him, all five hearts had to be destroyed. Kakashi also mentioned that he had said the last Konoha ninja he faced was the Shodai Hokage." Satori said.

"Wow, I didn't realize that ninjas like that existed." Masaki said. "Let's hope these guys are more normal."

"They're Akatsuki so they can't be normal. I think the most normal one is Itachi and we all know how normal the Uchihas were." Satori said.

Satori then realized that he had stuck his foot in his mouth by saying that previous comment. He looked back to the half Uchiha Shuji who was staring at him with his constantly activated Sharingan.

"No offense, Shuji."

"None taken." Shuji said smiling.

"At least we have some time until we reach them. They were a ways away from us when we found them the first time and they looked as if they were going in the opposite direction." Junshin said.

Unknown to the Leaf ninjas they were closer to their enemy than they thought and they were being watched. One of the Akatsuki members smiled right before explosions erupted all around the Leaf ninjas. The Konoha ninjas stopped and looked around at the exploding scenery.

"AMBUSH!" Satori yelled.

"Take cover." Junshin yelled.

From the giant cloud of smoke, the Leaf team leapt from the branches and to the ground below where the ten Akatsuki members stood in front of them, waiting for them.

"Well we don't have to look for them." Hanako said.

"Because they found us." Shuji said.

"We've been waiting for you." One of them said.

"No shit." Junshin said. "You guys really need to find a hobby. I hear fishing is in this time of year."

"I've noticed that some of you don't fit the description of Akatsuki." Junshin said.

"We're not full Akatsuki members yet. We don't even have rings yet."

"Man, I wish I could join a club where we got to wear rings and we could run around and try to act cool by capturing Bijuu because we're not strong enough to take on anyone with our own strength." Satori said.

The Akatsuki members weren't too happy with Satori's comment.

So why do you wear Akatsuki robes?" Shuji asked.

"How should I put this? In a way we are but we aren't." One of them said.

"That doesn't make any sense. Talk normally." Hanako said.

"We are what they call familiars. We are next in line to become Akatsuki once one of them dies we take their place. Tobi was one of us but he was recently promoted when Sasori was killed by one of you guys."

"That still doesn't make any sense because there is less than ten Akatsuki right now anyway." Yukino said.

"So you think. What proof do you have that there is less than ten Akatsuki members?"

That was a good question. The Leaf team didn't know how to answer that.

"So when an Akatsuki dies, one of you takes their place? Basically what you're saying is that you guys are Akatsuki wannabes?" Satori asked.

"I really don't like the one up front. I think I'm going to make him choke on that toothpick."

Satori's face grew into a look of annoyance.

"Why does everyone say that this is a toothpick?" He asked.

"Because it looks like one."

"I'm sure it'll look like one when I stab you in the face with it."

"Well let's quit talking and get to it then." He replied.

Satori tightened his gloves and drew his two sai and held them by the handles with the blades pressing against his forearms. Shuji drew both swords and stood in a stance similar to Neji's Kaiten. Hana's triplet wolves stood ready and growled at the cloaked opponents. Junshin molded his bracelets into kunai, spun them around on his fingers then caught them in his hands. Tsuku drew his chakra bladed katar. They all drew weapons and stood battle ready. Then suddenly everyone leapt into the air to do battle with the Akatsuki.


	6. Underneath the Underneath

Satori and Kanaye clashed their weapons against the kunai of their Akatsuki opponent.

"The name's Sanseki."

Sanseki stood as the tallest Akasuki member. He was probably the height of Zetsu with the Venus fly trap head like appendages. He had very short almost balding red hair and green eyes. His forehead protector had the symbol of the Hidden Star on it.

"You know, we really don't care about your names. We just want to get rid of you guys." Satori said.

Both Satori and Kanaye pushed off of Sanseki with their feet. Two more Akatsuki members faced off against Junshin, Hanako, Yukino and Iruka. These two Akatsuki were identical twins. They had long brown hair and eyes to match their hair color. One of them had a scar running down the right side of his face while the other had one down his left side. They both wore Hidden Cloud forehead protectors.

"I'm Hakyoku."

"And I'm Hirogaru."

"We will kill you all." They said in unison.

"Wow, we have the wonder twins." Junshin said.

The Akatsuki twins didn't like that comment at all. Junshin noticed their displeasure.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I meant the retarded wonder twins."

The four Leaf ninjas charged into battle against their twin opponents. Iruka punched Hakyoku across the face and Hirogaru yelped in pain. Iruka stood there dumbfounded. Then it came to him.

_If one gets hurt, the other feels it._

Shuji, Hana, Tsuku, Rikku and Rock Lee all squared up against three other red cloaked opponents.

"We really don't care who you are but I'm Konsui, this is Genso and Akumyo."

"So what makes you think that we care about who you are?" Shuji asked.

Konsui had blonde hair at normal length for a guy and blue eyes. Akumyo had his head shaved but had a white goatee. His eyes were also blue. Genso had black hair and pupilless eyes. It was like staring into a 

void. Konsui wore a Rock head protector, Genso sported a Sound head protector and Akumyo wore Waterfall.

Tenten, Yaiba and Shigekazu stood against another pair. One of them was a girl.

"The name is Safaia."

She had mainly green hair with the front dyed in red. Her hair was pushed back with a Hidden Horizon forehead protector. She wielded a straight double edged sword.

"And I'm Satsugai."

He had jet black spiky hair and dark eyes to go with it. A slightly tilted Grass head protector wrapped around his head.

Masaki, Ishida and Suzume went head to head with the final two of the Akatsuki group.

"Hametsu." He said.

"Not that it matters but I'm Dokusha. Also known as the Nightmare Man."

Hametsu had his blonde hair back in a small pony tail. His forehead protector was from the Smoke Village. Dokusha had short blue hair and silver eyes. He wore a Hidden Rain head protector.

The two squads went head to head in an all out battle. Sounds of weapons clanging and seal completions filled the air. The pairings that started out didn't exactly stay that way. The ninjas switched off and fought somebody else for awhile before switching off again. So far the only casualties were the trees and brush that surrounded the fighters. Hours seemed like minutes when it came to battling between the two groups. And from the looks of things, it looked as if the Leaf squad was tiring a lot faster than the Akatsuki members. Rock Lee ran up to Konsui and roundhouse kicked him across the face.

"Konoha Senpuu."

The force of the kick sent Konsui flying into Satsugai, who at the time was fending off Hana and her three wolves. Tenten pulled out a small cylinder that extended into a long staff and fought off Safaia and her sword. Satori used his two sai to fend off Sanseki and his long spear. Shuji swung his two swords at the dodging Dokusha. Yaiba knelt down on all fours and lunged at Genso. Genso did a series of handseals and stopped on the seal of the Monkey.

"Raiton: Raikyu no jutsu." (Lightning Element: Lighting ball technique)

Genso launched a lighting ball that looked like the Chidori at Yaiba. Yaiba dodged the attack and appeared right in front of Genso. Genso smiled. He closed his fist and the lighting ball came back and hit Yaiba in the back. Yaibe fell and hit the ground hard. Seconds later, Iruka landed next to him. One by one all of the Leaf ninjas landed next to each other. They were surrounded by the Akatsuki members. The way that these ten Akatsuki members looked up close, it seemed that the Konoha ninjas had their work cut out for them.

"You guys are a push over." Dokusha said.

"You Leaf brats are finished and …" Hakyoku started.

"…can't stand up to Akatsuki and…" Hirogaru continued.

"... Pein will rule all." They said in unison.

"Kneel down and beg for your lives. It sometimes helps but not often." Safaia said.

Satori smiled. Suddenly all of the members of the Leaf Squad disappeared in a cloud of smoke. This caught the Akatsuki members by complete surprise. They looked behind them to see the real Konoha ninjas flying in at them. They were caught off guard. The Leaf ninjas tackled, kicked and punched the Akatsuki members into one another.

"How? What just happened?" Sanseki asked.

"Thanks to my Kage Bunshin combined with Henge no jutsu, you guys thought that you were fighting the real us while the real us hid nearby and observed your fighting style." Satori said.

"Not to mention we're at full power while you guys wasted a lot of energy and chakra fighting clones." Shuji said.

Satori looked to the others and smiled.

"Shall we get started?" He asked.

"Let's do it." Tsuku said.

The Leaf squad lunged at the Akatsuki members as the real battle between the two groups really began.


	7. An All Element User

Tsuku and Shigekazu teamed up against Genso. Shigekazu drew a kunai while Tsuku held his chakra bladed katar on his right hand. The two Leaf ninjas leapt at their opponent swinging their weapons at him in hopes of landing a hit. Genso leapt away to a safer distance. He did a few handseals that would almost rival Kakashi in speed.

"Suiton: Mizu no Muchi no jutsu." (Water Element: Whip of Water technique)

Water formed in Genso's hand and took the shape of a whip. He lashed it out at the two ninjas. They leapt out of the way of the water whip.

"We're no where near any body of water. How can he use Suiton attacks?" Shigekazu said.

"Moisture in the air is what I'm using to do my attacks." Genso said.

"I'd say he's got some skill to him." Tsuku said. "He reminds me of that one character in that movie with the whip and the hat."

"You mean Konoha Jones?"

"Yeah that's him. We just need to get him a hat."

Shigekazu leapt into the air launching kunai and shuriken in the air. Genso used the whip to deflect the incoming weapons. Tsuku snuck up behind him and sliced his arm off using his katar. The sliced off appendage hit the ground and the whip dissipated. Tsuku landed next to Shigekazu with a grin on his face.

"Now what will you do? Throw rocks at us?" He said.

Genso grinned. "Watch closely."

He used his other hand to form one handed seals. The Leaf ninjas' eyes widened.

"He's doing one handed seals. This isn't good." Shigekazu said.

After his hand formed a fist as its final seal, Genso slammed his hand to the ground.

"Doton: Daichi Ude Kirikae no justu." (Earth Element: Earth Arm Replacement Technique)

Dirt and rock shot from the ground and formed into an arm and attached itself to Genso.

"Damn it. And here I thought we were at an advantage." Tsuku said.

Genso did more handseals. The two leave ninjas couldn't keep up with their speed.

"Souton: Obutsu Kuchini no Jutsu." (Gravity Element: Dirt Eating Technique)

Genso clapped his hands together and almost instantly Tsuku and Shigekazu hit the ground as if they were body slammed. They tried desperately to move but they couldn't.

"What the hell is going on? Since when is there a Souton?" Tsuku asked.

"It's the combination of Lighting and Earth Chakra."

"It's very rare for a ninja to have more than two elements. Are you saying you have three?" Shigekazu asked.

"I'm saying I have all five and I can combine them into other elements. I can even do Wood and Ice if I wanted to."

Suddenly, Genso was knocked over by another Akatsuki member. This was able to disrupt the jutsu and allowed Tsuku and Shigekazu to get up. They looked over to see that Yaiba and Rock Lee had knocked their opponent into theirs. Genso shot back up to his feet once Hirogaru got off of him and headed back to fight his opponents.

"You guys got lucky." Genso said.

"Nah, we got friends." Shigekazu said.

"Well, you all will still be friends in the other life."

"If didn't know any better, I'd say that was a desperation comment." Tsuku said. "Generally, people who are about to lose in a battle will say things like that. So since you said that, you're going to lose."

"You bastard."

Tsuku leapt at Genso and took a swipe at him with his katar. Genso leapt to the side to avoid the attack only to leap right into the path of a giant fireball. He leapt out of the way of the fireball but his Akatsuki robe caught fire. He quickly discarded it. He did another series of handseals.

"Futon: Atsugai no Jutsu." (Wind Element: Pressure Damage Technique.)

Genso released a large amount of chakra from his body and sent a large destructive gale of wind at his opponents. The attack was too fast for Tsuku and Shigekazu to get out of the way. Once caught in it, they had a very hard time moving on their own. The wind carried them deeper into the forest and sliced up trees and rocks to add more debris. Rogue tree limbs and rocks flew all around the two leaf ninjas, knocking into them at random intervals. Along with getting battered by the debris, they were getting sliced up by the wind. The wind died down and they fell to the ground below. They slammed into the 

ground hard. Blood erupted from their mouths when they hit. Genso stood over them with a big grin on his face.

"Even though you look like a cat, you surely don't act like one with landing on your back and all." He said.

Tsuku's eyes shot open and he attacked Genso by punching him in the chest. The attack itself wasn't really all that powerful. Genso looked down at the connected fist and then back to Tsuku.

"What was that supposed to do?"

A second later, Genso felt it. He felt the chakra blade twisting inside of him as Tsuku rotated his fist. Tsuku then sliced upward, slicing through Genso's skull. Genso fell backwards onto what was left of a destroyed tree. Tsuku lied back down. He looked over and saw that his friends were still fighting but it appeared that the fighting would end soon. In the condition he was in, he wouldn't be much help.

_It's not that I'm lazy, it's just I can't do anything productive right now. I say it's time for a cat nap._

He gently lied down the best he could without flopping over. The sun beat down on him and a smile formed on his face.

_Ah, perfect._


	8. Raiton Taijutsu

Hirogaru's Leaf opponents were Inuzuka Yaiba and Rock Lee. Rock Lee was the first to attack. He leapt into the air and spun around with his leg extended.

"Konoha Senpuu."

He kicked Hirogaru across the face and sent him stumbling. Yaiba ran up to him took a swipe at him with his claw like hands. Hirogaru was barely able to avoid the attack. Hirogaru kicked Yaiba in the chin sending him high into the air. With his attention on Yaiba, Rock Lee took advantage and rushed in to attack. He ducked down low to the ground.

"Konoha Reppu."

He spun around and swept Hirogaru's feet from underneath of him. Hirogaru fell onto his back. He looked up to see Yaiba in the air, regaining his composure and coming down on him with his fist cocked back. Yaiba's fist slammed into Hirogaru's chest. Yaiba and Rock Lee leapt a safe distance away, waiting to see if Hirogaru was going to get up or not. At first it looked that way and Hirogaru stood up and tore away his already ripped up Akatsuki robe.

"That attack should've done more damage than that." Yaiba said.

"This is my Bodi Kori Technique. It's of the Doton variety."

"So you used that technique to harden your body so that you could withstand my attack?"

"That's right."

"What a bitch." Yaiba said.

"We must do our best to defeat this guy." Rock Lee said.

"What else were we going to do other than our best?" Yaiba asked.

Before Rock Lee could reply, Hirogaru appeared between them and attacked. He grabbed Yaiba and threw him up in the air. Rock Lee put his arms up to block the attack but his block was easily compromised. Lee skidded across the dirt. As he skipped across the land, he loosened his bandages. He stopped when he hit a tree. Then he stood up and faced Hirogaru.

"Forgive me Gai-sensei. I must break that promise to fulfill my way of the ninja." His face changed to a darker color and his pupil disappeared. "Third gate, Life Gate, Open." He sprinted towards the Akatsuki member. "And the Fourth, Wound Gate, Open." His speed increased again. It almost looked as if he was flying just above the ground. He cocked his arm back and punched through Hirogaru's armor.

"What's this?" Hirogaru asked.

"I'm not done yet."

Lee leapt up into the air. "Fifth Gate, Forest Gate, Open."

He came back down with the speed of a dive bomber. He cocked his fist back again and slammed it into Hirogaru in an explosion of dirt and rock. Lee leapt out of the dust cloud and landed a few feet away. Once the dust had cleared, nothing remained. Lee somewhat relaxed. He thought that he had beaten his opponent.

"Gai-sensei, I did…"

Lee was cut off by a slight rumbling underneath of him. He looked down to see Hirogaru shoot up from the ground and grab him by the neck.

"Doton: Dochiuu Eigyo no Jutsu." (Earth Element: Underground Fish Projection)

He threw Lee into a tree. Lee stood back up and looked around for his opponent. He was no where to be found. He looked down again just in time to see Hirogaru's foot come out of the ground and kick him in the chest. Lee flew across the battlefield. Yaiba watched as Lee got pounded.

FLASHBACK

A more human looking Yaiba and his wolf dog, Kagumaru stood in a circle of a group of mysterious ninjas. Yaiba had no idea where these ninjas were from. The only markings were their forehead protectors and it three vertical lines on it almost similar to the Rain head protectors. Right now with him and Kagumaru it was two against five. His teammate Shigekazu was already beaten and down for the count. Shizuka had gone for help. She had left a few hours ago but no one had shown shown up yet. This was supposed to be a routine mission for Genin but now it turned in a mission more suited for Jonins. Yaiba did his best to keep these ninjas away but he was drastically outnumbered. One of them appeared between him and Kagumaru. He put his hands on Yaiba and Kagumaru.

"Tokeau no Jutsu." (Fuse Technique)

Yaiba screamed and Kagumaru howled as this ninja performed this technique. Yaiba fell to the ground. It may have been minutes or hours later but to him it was a mere seconds later when he opened his eyes to see Shuji, Rikku and Kuma standing there in front of him fighting off these ninjas. His eyes closed again as he passed out.

He awoke in the Konoha hospital with a severe headache. The doctor came over to him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I have a bit of a headache." Yaiba replied.

He then noticed his hands were a bit more dog like than they were before. His eyes widened. At that moment his cousin Hana came into the room. The doctor stood up and left.

"What's going on? Where's Kagumaru?" Yaiba demanded.

"Well it would seem that you and Kagumaru were fused together."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure myself. I didn't know that such a technique existed. According to the other team's report, it said that you and Kagumaru had already been fused together. As far as I know the technique is irreversible. Right now you are Inuzuka Yaiba with the traits of Kagumaru." Hana said.

Yaiba didn't know what to say. To him, his dog was dead.

END FLASHBACK

Hirogaru stood there and looked at Lee. Then suddenly, Yaiba came from his side and shoved his shoulder into him, sending him flying and into Genso. Hirogaru flew back into the battle, punching Lee across the face as he came back. It looked as if Lee was out cold. Yaiba leapt out of Hirogaru's range and decided to act like Lee for the moment. He unstrapped his arm and leg gauntlets to reveal weights.

"Weights? What are they like five pounders?"

Yaiba took them off and threw them at Hirogaru. The Akatsuki smiled and caught them. However, he was caught off guard by the weight of them and was thrown backwards. It was Yaiba's turn to smile. It was his time to shine. With his back turned, Hiroshi couldn't tell what exactly Yaiba was doing. All he could see was that his arms were moving in the motion of handseals.

"Raiton: Hayai jidohansha no jutsu." (Lightning Element: Fast Reflexes Technique)

A bolt of lighting shot from the sky and struck Yaiba. Then in a sudden burst of speed he appeared next to Hirogaru and kicked into the air. He in front of him as if he were doing an opposite version of Rock Lee's Omote Renge. Then Yaiba began to repeatedly punch and kick Hirogaru in the face and chest. Hirogaru attempted to cover his body with his rock armor but Yaiba was too quick and broke away any rock that started to form. Then Yaiba spun around and kicked Hirogaru in the face sending him to the ground. The Akatsuki slammed into the ground and stared straight up at the incoming Yaiba, whose foot slammed into and crushed Hirogaru's head. Yaiba stood there breathing heavily. He then fell back onto the ground and stared up into the sky.

"This is going to hurt in the morning." He said.


	9. Hana's Light

Inuzuka Hana and her Haimaru triplets faced off against the twin of Hirogaru, Hakyoku. She wasn't sure of the capabilities of this one but she assumed that he would have similar capabilities as his twin. From her stand point it looked as if he clasped his hands in his robe. It was totally different from what he was really doing. She knew damn well that he was doing handseals underneath. She pulled a kunai out of her leg holster and launched it at him. He was either going to get hit by the kunai so he could try to complete the seals or he was going to stop his seals to deflect it. Naturally there's always a third option. He dodged it while still doing handseals. She and her triplets charged at him. It was too late, he had finished the handseals.

"Katon: Hibashiri no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Racing Fire Technique)

Fire formed on the ground around Hakyoku and shot towards Hana. She leapt into the air and threw kunai with explosive tags around the fire. Once the tags exploded, dirt and rocks smothered the flames. She landed a few feet away from Hakyoku and was about to lay a hit when he suddenly stumbled around as if some unseen force had punched him across the face. She couldn't afford to allow that to distract her so she went in for another attack. She went for a kick at his head but he ducked. No not ducked, he was tripped. She backed off and looked around. She then noticed that Rock Lee and Yaiba were fighting his twin and Lee had tripped their opponent. At the same time her opponent fell as if he was tripped.

_It would appear that whatever hit they land, happens to this one. I wonder if it works the other way. _

She leapt into the air and slammed both of her feet into his chest. She instantly looked over just in time to see Yaiba punch his opponent in the same area.

_Well, that didn't really help any._

She backed off and Hakyoku stood up. He discarded his robe and stared down Hana.

"It would seem that you've noticed our special bond. You see every time I get hit my brother feels it and vise versa. It's a pain the ass but we've learned to deal with it."

Without saying anything she charged at him with her triplets right behind her. At the last second she dropped to the ground as her three nin dogs leapt into the air and tackled Hakyoku. They bit and scratched at him. He was finally able to push them off of him by kicking one and grabbing the other two and throwing them. The triplets regrouped next to Hana. She pulled out three soldier pills from her pouch and tossed one into each of their mouths. Then suddenly in a cloud of smoke the three triplets turned into exact replicas of Hana.

"Jujin Bunshin." (Beast Human Clone)

The four of them charged in and leapt into the air. They all spun in the air at ferocious speeds.

"Gatsuga."

Hakyoku did his best to dodge the devastating four attacks. Although his luck didn't last long. He was hit by one of the Hanas and then once he was hit, the others were able to hit him as well. At the same time, his brother was being bombarded by Yaiba's attacks, so it really wasn't all that apparent one whose attacks were causing the twins more pain. Hakyoku was thrown from the air and into the ground just by merely skimming the side of one of the Hanas. He stumbled to his feet just as the Hanas landed. Three of the Hanas transformed back into their animal forms.

"We're not done yet." Hana said.

She crouched down on all fours and leapt into the air. The triplets also jumped into the air. Two landed on Hana's back while the third placed two of its paws on each of their backs. Hana did the hand seal of the Tiger.

"Inuzuka Ryuu Jinjuu Konbi Henge." (Human Creature Combination Transformation)

Then in an explosion of smoke Hana and the triplets transformed into a four headed beast.

"Shi Kashira Ookami" (Four Head Wolf)

"Wow, that's neat." Hakyoku said almost unimpressed.

He extended his two hands and chakra formed around them. He slammed them together and then performed a series of hand seals. He ended with the seal of the dog.

"Hyoton: Hi Dageki no Jutsu." (Ice Element: Ice Blower Technique)

Hakyoku arched his finger in front of his mouth as if here were doing a Katon Jutsu and blew out a stream of ice at the four headed wolf. Upon impact the wolf was frozen solid. Hakyoku smiled at his accomplishment.

"So much for your big bad technique." He said.

Suddenly the four headed wolf disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Hakyoku's eyes widened. He turned around to see the real four headed wolf in the air above him. The wolf swiped at him with its paw knocking him deeper into the forest. His momentum was stopped by him hitting a large boulder. He looked straight ahead to see the wolf charging at him. The wolf then leapt and spun in the air.

"Shi Tsui Shikon." (Four Sets of Fangs)

The attack drilled into Hakyoku. The wolf leapt away from the fallen Akatsuki member and transformed back into Hana and the Haimaru triplets. Hana breathed heavily and the triplets lied down to rest.

"It's been awhile since we've done that one, hasn't it." She said looking at the triplets not expecting an answer.

The three triplets looked at her before putting their heads down to rest.


	10. Retraction

Rikku and Suzume stood about twenty yards away from their Akatsuki opponent, Akumyo. Rikku looked to Suzume.

"Shall we get started?" She asked with a grin.

"Why the hell not?" Suzume replied.

The two charged in and Akumyo stood in his battle stance. The two Leaf Kunoichi took turns throwing an attack at Akumyo. Suzume kicked at Akumyo's head but he ducked. Rikku came in with a sweep of the legs but he slightly leapt into the air and spun around. In the process he kicked both ninjas away from him.

"Well, that was annoying." Suzume said.

"Let' get him." Rikku said charging.

She drew a kunai and engaged Akumyo once again. He did a series of handseals and it ended with the Bird seal.

"Suiton: Suigadan no jutsu." (Water Element: Water Fang Projectile)

Water shot from the ground in the form of a spinning drill and struck Rikku square in the chest. The force sent her flying back into a tree. The water didn't even stop after the initial impact. It kept her pinned to the tree. Akumyo grinned.

"There's no water nearby." Suzume said. "How can you use Suiton here?"

"It has rained within these past few days and I'm using the water in the ground to do so." Akumyo said.

The water died down and revealed a human sized log in Rikku's place.

"Kawarimi no jutsu?" (Replacement Technique)

Akumyo turned around to see Rikku almost on top of him. He reacted fast and grabbed her by her neck. Suzume found this to be an opportune time to attack. She charged at him with a kunai drawn. He turned around, punched her across the face and grabbed her by her neck as well.

"I'm going to squeeze the life right out of you two." He said.

For holding two teenage girls by their necks and up in the air, he was decently strong. He continued to squeeze harder. Suzume wiped the blood off from her lip and did a series of handseals. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu." (Summoning Technique)

Suzume placed her hand on Akumyo's arm and in a cloud of smoke, a hawk appeared. The hawk seemed surprised by where he was summoned.

"A person's arm, eh? This is a new one."

"Don't worry about where you are just blow him away, Takasuke." Suzume said.

"Sure thing. Futon: Renkudan no jutu." (Wind Element: Drilling Air Bullet technique)

The hawk cocked its head back and filled its small lungs with air and then blew out an incredible amount of powerful wind. The attack was powerful enough to knock Akumyo back.

"Get the hell off of me." He said.

He threw Suzume a few feet away and shook his arm wildly to get Takasuke off of him. He still had a hold of Rikku and wasn't about to let her go just to flick a measly little bird. He did the only thing he could think of. He head butted it. Takasuke lost his grip and fell off. Akumyo kicked Takasuke while he was falling. The summoned hawk landed close to Suzume. She quickly got to Takasuke's side.

"Are you all right?"

"Been better."

Akumyo started laughing at them.

"Do you think that a little bird is gonna hurt me?"

At that point, Suzume's eyes widened. It wasn't what Akumyo had said. It was Rikku. She was changing. Akumyo's laughter suddenly stopped and then replaced with cries of pain. It was so quick he didn't even have time to turn around to see why he was in pain. Finally, he turned his head to see that a strange marking had covered Rikku's body.

"What evil, powerful chakra." He said.

Rikku had a hold of Akumyo's hand and had it twisted in a very peculiar position. She twisted it again, only this time she broke it. Akumyo yelled in pain. She then flung him through the air and slammed him on the ground causing it to rupture. She then kicked him across the area, sending him skipping across the ground. He began to crawl away to give himself some distance between him and Rikku. She slowly walked to him with a grin on her face. It was as if she was enjoying hurting him. Suzume was glad that Rikku had turned the tide but she was slightly scared of Rikku now. Akumyo stood up getting ready to do more handseals. With a swing of her fist, combined with chakra, a powerful gust of wind knocked 

Akumyo backwards. He lied on his back breathing heavily. Rikku came over and jumped on his chest. Blood shot into the air from Akumyo's mouth. Then the Kunoichi began to kick him repeatedly. She wanted to toy with him and make him suffer. She then lifted her foot in the air, just above his neck. She was going to deliver the final blow right now. She stopped when the cursed seal markings lit up and began to retract. The markings slid back into its cursed seal form and then the seal disappeared. Rikku's eyes widened as Akumyo grinned. He grabbed her foot and pulled her to the ground. He pulled off his Akatsuki robe and covered her with it as he began to beat her senseless. Suzume came out of no where and tackled Akumyo. Once he was on the ground, Suzume grabbed Rikku and leapt back, next to Takasuke. She threw two kunai with explosive tags attached to them. Once they hit the ground a few feet in front of Akumyo they exploded. Akumyo shielded himself from the initial blast.

"You know, if you would've actually hit me with those, you might've been able to do some real damange."

Suzume grinned.

"Do it." She said.

"Futon: Daitoppa no jutsu." (Wind Element: Great Breakthrough Technique)

Takashi filled his lungs full of air as he cocked his head back and then released it into the flame. The attack shot through the other side, looking like a stream of fire. This time it was a more devastating attack. Akumyo howled as he was burned to a crisp. After the flame died down, his burnt corpse fell over and broke apart as it hit the ground.

"So why not use a Katon jutu?" Rikku asked.

"I don't have fire chakra. So, an explosive note attached to a kunai is the next best thing."

"Ah, makes sense." Rikku said rubbed her cursed seal spot.

"Can you check the back of my neck, please?"

"Sure. What am I looking for?"

"Any sort of weird bruising in the shape of any type of seal." Rikku said.

"I don't see anything, your neck and shoulders are clear." Suzume said pulling on Rikku's collar.

_It must be gone. But how can that be?_


	11. Kabuto's Sister

Hametsu's Leaf opponents were Ishida and Masaki. Masaki pulled her katana from its sheath. The two of them attacked the Akatsuki member without warning. Ishida did a few handseals. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." (Fire Element: Great Fireball Technique)

"Ah a fire user? I'm a water user." Hametsu said.

He did a few hand seals and put his hand to his mouth as if her were doing a Katon jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizurappa no jutsu." (Water Element: Violent water wave technique)

He shot water from his mouth and dispelled Ishida's Katon. Masaki shot from the smoke and swung her sword at him. He dodged the attack but his cloak was partially sliced off.

"You tore my cloak." He said.

"I'll do more than that." She replied.

Hametsu tore off the rest of his cloak.

"Well, I can move more freely now." He said.

Ishida came in from the left with shuriken being launched from his hands. Hametsu leapt into the air and did more handseals. He stopped on the seal of the Dog.

"Futon: Reitai Kaze no jutsu." (Wind Element: Freezing Wind Technique)

He blew out air just as he blew out the water from before and hit Ishida with the attack, freezing the water that was on Ishida. . Ishida was damn near frozen solid. He could barely move. Hametsu ran over and kicked Ishida across the face and then picked him up and threw him into a tree. Masaki came in and attacked again with her katana. She swung it at his head to which he barely dodged. She then thrust it at his face but he grabbed the blade when it was only inches away from his eye.

"I see your point." He said.

"I hate you for saying that."

"Oh and you didn't hate me before?"

He pulled her in close, disarmed her and kicked in the chest, knocking her a few feet away. Ishida stood a few feet away from Hametsu doing handseals. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)

Ishida launched a barrage of fireballs at the Akatsuki member. Hametsu did more handseals.

"Suiton: Mizu no Tasumaki." (Water Element: Tornado of Water Technique)

A vortex of water surrounded Hametsu, it rose just over his head. The fire balls were extinguished the second they hit the vortex. However, the shuriken inside of them were able to get through and catch Hametsu by surprise. Ishida could hear him scream as he was hit. Ishida then leapt into the air and saw an opening at the top of the vortex.

_Just as I thought._

He attached an explosive note to a kunai and threw it into the opening. He saw Hametsu look up in horror as the kunai headed his way.

"Shit."

He dispelled the jutsu and leapt away just as the kunai struck the ground and exploded. Ishida leapt at him again but Hametsu grabbed Masaki's sword and threw it at the Leaf ninja. Ishida dodged it as best as he could but the sword still hit him. It went through his right shoulder and he fell from the air. Masaki came from behind to attack but missed. He grabbed her foot and threw her up into the air. He jumped up after her. He appeared ahead of her and then punched her in the chest as soon as she was in range. She plummeted to the ground and hit it with an explosion of dirt and rock. He landed nearby and saw Masaki lying there motionless. Hametsu walked over and grinned. He then slammed his foot into Masaki's back. The air was filled with a loud crack. He noticed a wide eyed Ishida was trying to get up and attack.

"Don't worry, you join her too."

Ishida pulled out the katana and threw it at Hametsu but he just sidestepped it. He casually walked towards Ishida. Then suddenly he heard the echoing of a female voice.

"DOTON: Dochiuu Eigyo no Jutsu." (Earth Element: Underground Fish Projection Technique)

Masaki shot up from the ground right in front of Hametsu with her right hand covered in blue chakra. She slashed her hand across his throat. Although no outside evidence could be shown but inside, his throat was slit.

"Since you can't talk, I bet you're wondering how I did that. I keep a scroll with a realistic replica of myself made out of wood, sealed inside it. My brother Kabuto taught me that technique. I summoned it before the smoke cleared and I hid underground. Then I popped out and slit your throat with a chakra scalpel."

After a few seconds, Hametsu died and Masaki relaxed. She then turned her attention to the injured Ishida. She knelt down and pulled out the sword. She placed her hand over the wound and green chakra encased her hand.

"You've got quite a wound here." She said smiling.

All Ishida could do was grin.


	12. Pinpoint Accuracy

Kanaye and Iruka were up against Satsugai. So far this guy had been running circles around them, literally. He'd run around throwing shuriken and kunai at them. Kanaye already had his head protector raised to reveal his white, green swirled eyes. He also had his bow out and was trying to get a good shot on him but it was useless so far. He even had lead him and still missed but barely. If he lead to far he'd shoot in front of him, if he'd lead closer he'd shoot behind him.

"Tch, Tenten would be useful right now." Kanaye said.

"Yeah but she's busy with her own opponent." Iruka said.

"It looks like we're gonna to have to try to get in closer to him."

"Agreed, but how?"

"Like this."

Kanaye threw a kunai with an explosive note attached to it in front of Satsugai. He jumped over the weapon just as it hit the ground and exploded.

"Damn that was close." Kanaye said. "He gotta slow him down."

"Maybe this will work." Iruka said.

He did a few handseals.

"Suiton: Mizuame Nabara no Jutsu." (Water Element: Starch Syrup Capture Field)

Iruka shot a thick yellow liquid from his mouth in front of Satsugai. The Akatsuki member was so fast that he ran right through it without getting bogged down. Iruka continued to spit out the liquid and in a mass quantity. Finally, Satsugai began to slow down and finally he stopped completely. Kanaye smiled as he raised his bow and fired a chakra arrow.

"We got him now."

Satsugai smiled. Just as the arrow was about to hit, his hand shot up and caught it. He then threw it back at Kanaye. The Leaf ninja jumped into the air to avoid being hit by his own arrow but he was to slow. The arrow hit him in his right leg.

"You think that my legs are the only quick part of my body." Satsugai said.

"Damn it." Iruka said.

Kanaye landed on his feet but as soon as his right foot touched, he damn near collapsed.

"This just gets better and better." He said.

At that moment, Satsugai appeared right in front of Kanaye to make a fatal blow. Iruka, thinking fast, pulled out a scroll and summoned a demon wind shuriken. He grabbed it out of the air and threw it at Satsugai. The Akatsuki member barely saw it in time and stopped dead in his tracks as he let the giant shuriken go by. The only damage that was done to him was that his Akatsuki robe was torn almost off of him by the shuriken. That's how close it came to him.

"Damn, that was a close one." Satsugai said while ripping off the rest of his Akatsuki robe and grinning.

"Too bad it didnt' take off that stupid little smile." Kanaye said.

Satsugai kneed Kanaye in the face so hard that his forehead protector flew off from his head. Iruka came up and kicked Satsugai in the back, catching him off guard. The Akatsuki member recovered, grabbed Iruka and threw him into a tree. He then grabbed Kanaye and threw him into Iruka who had just stood up. The two were knocked into the bushes behind them. Satsugai ran over to see that the two Leaf ninjas were no longer there. He turned around to see that they had jumped out of the bushes behind him. Kanaye aimed three chakra arrows at Satsugai and fired. Satsugai grabbed two of the arrows and let the other go by his head. He then threw the pulsating blue arrows back at Kanaye and Iruka. The two arrows struck both ninjas in the chests.

"HA! Amateurs." Satsugai said.

Then in a cloud of smoke, both Iruka and Kanaye were gone.

"What the hell?"

Then suddenly he felt as if someone was above him. He looked up just in time to see an airborne Kanaye fire two more arrows in to his shoulders. Almost as instantly he felt a third arrow strike him from behind. Kanaye was in front of him now.

_The archer is in front of me. How did I get an arrow through my back? _

His whole body stopped working and he was completely frozen by the arrow's effects.

"I bet you're wondering how an arrow struck you in the back?"

Iruka came out from the wooded area behind Satsugai and gave Kanaye back his forehead protector.

"If you remember I fired three arrows at you and you caught two. You then threw them into what you thought was us but turned out to be clones that Iruka made using Kage Bunshinand then made one of them transform into me. While the real Iruka was set up for this attack by placing my forehead protector up high and his out in front of him. The third arrow ricocheted off of Iruka's forehead protector, upward then off of my head protector and into your back."

"Pretty ingenious. I must say." Iruka said.

"If it weren't for my Itegan then I wouldn't have been able to do this. My eyes allow pinpoint accuracy when it comes to shooting arrows. Using these eyes I was able to aim any three of my arrows that originally shot for Iruka's forehead protector."

"You're a cheater then." Satsugai said.

"How can I be cheating if I was born with this ability. You're just a sore loser." Kanaye said.

Kanaye and Iruka leapt back clear across their battlefield. Iruka did the seal of the Ram and attached to the chakra arrow in Satsugai's back was an explosive note that began to glow. Satsugai looked behind him and saw only the glow of the note.

"Shit."

The tag exploded taking the Akatsuki member with it.


	13. Tenten's New Technique

Safaia used her free hand to push back the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. Tenten pulled out a small cylinder. It glowed brightly in her hand and then extended out into a staff. Safaia didn't feel like waiting. She was similar to Sasori and Deidara when it came to waiting. She didn't like it period whether it was her waiting or making someone else wait. Tenten stood ready. Safaia swung her sword and Tenten blocked it with her staff. Safaia ran her blade down the staff towards Tenten's hands. She either was going to allow them to be sliced off or she was going to let go. She did the latter. Tenten let go of her staff but instantly formed the seal of the Ram.

"Break apart." She said.

The staff turned into a tri-staff. She then reached out and grabbed the handle of the staff. The other parts of the staff wrapped around the blade of the sword. Tenten pulled on it and the sword flew out of Safaia's hands. Tenten also let go of the staff and closed her hands turning them into fists. She readied herself to start fighting with Taijutsu. She began to punch Safaia repeatedly across the face before ending her combo with a kick. The force caused Safaia to be flipped onto her back. Tenten lifted her foot to stomp on Safaia's face but the female Akatsuki recovered and moved out of the way. Safaia shot to her feet pulling out two daggers. She spun them around in her hands catching one upside down and the other right side up. She swung at Tenten with both daggers. One of them catching Tenten's shirt, slicing it halfway open and the other caught Tenten's arm. Blood leaked out of the wound. Tenten unhooked her scroll and opened it, draping the end over her arm. In a cloud of smoke multiple weapons shot out towards Safaia. The green and red haired girl did her best to block the onslaught but she couldn't block them all. She was hit all over her body by the weapons. After the onslaught, Tenten looked slightly relieved at the sight of Safaia's defeated body. Then suddenly, the body turned into a weapon covered log.

"Damn it, kawarimi." Tenten said.

"She turned around to see Safaia in the air with her sword raised above her head. She brought the sword down hard and sliced right into Tenten's left shoulder and down into her chest. Safaia smiled.

"You Leaf kids are weak. Especially you kunoichis."

No sooner did she say that, Tenten was replaced with log with a big cut in it.

"You've got to be kidding me."

She didn't have time to react when she felt a hard steel bar slam into her back. Tenten had regained her tri staff, turned it back into a normal staff and drove it into Safaia's back. Safaia stood up with a very ticked off expression on her face.

"What was that comment about Leaf kunoichis?"

"I'm going to kill you."

Tenten knew she had her opponent on the ropes now. She was completely underestimated and she was going to use that to her advantage. Safaia charged at Tenten. Satori's sister slammed the end of the staff on the ground and on the other end a blade shot out. She then spun the staff in the air and stabbed the ground with the blade.

"Hi Ga Tsuku Jishin." (Catch Fire Earthquake)

The ground shook when a flame shot from Tenten's weapon. It left a fire trail as it raced towards Safaia. The female Akatsuki jumped into the air hoping to escape the flame. Tenten shot her hand into the air and the fire followed her hand's command. Safaia frowned when she saw the flame at her heals. Safaia turned in the air and swung at the fire.

"Scatter." Tenten called.

The flame shot outward into tiny pieces that almost resembled Sakura petals. Safaia looked all around her as she began to descend towards the ground. She knew that this attack wasn't over. As soon as she landed the fire petals closed in and engulfed her. She swung furiously at the flames but it was totally futile. The flames burned away her Akatsuki robe and was starting at her clothes. She even tossed her sword aside to roll on the ground. The attack subsided and Tenten walked over to her fallen foe. Safaia shot up and stabbed Tenten in the stomach. Tenten yelped in pain as she felt the cold blade enter her body. Safaia punched Tenten across the face. Tenten pushed herself away from her opponent before she could hit her again and stumbled back.

"One thing you should know, you stupid bitch is that you never walk over to your fallen opponent even if you think they're dead." Safaia said.

Tenten did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed her giant scroll from its hooks and threw it at Safaia. It fell short and landed at Safaia's feet. The Akatsuki member smiled.

"You serious. That's your last attack."

Tenten extended her index and middle fingers on her right hand.

"Ryu no Mai." (Dragon Dance)

Safaia's eyes widened as she noticed that the scroll started to spin around her. It released its flap and the scroll unraveled itself. Safaia was surrounded by the scroll. Then weapons began to appear from the scroll and launched themselves at Safaia. The female Akatsuki had no where to go but to the ground as she lost all strength in her body not to mention a lot of blood from her wounds. She closed her eyes as the weapons continued to attack her even after she drew her last breath. Tenten held her wound with both hands as she leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground.


	14. Water and Lightning Combination

Hanako jumped through the air dodging the oncoming kunai barrage from her opponent, Sanseki. She was getting a bit annoyed with him just throwing kunai at her. She needed to get things going and end this fight as soon as possible. He was constantly airborne so it was difficult for her to fight him on the ground which is where she wanted to be. She did a few handseals and then raised her arms into the air. Overcast clouds began to form.

"Yeah, I see you." Sanseki said. "In a moment you're going to be dead."

"Raiton: Ikadzuchi no Kiba no Jutsu." (Lightning Element: Lightning Bolt Fang Technique)

From the overcast clouds, lightning shot. The bolt struck Sanseki in the back sending him to the ground.

"My that was an electrifying experience." He said getting up. "Well if you wanna use Raiton jutsu, I'm game."

Sanseki did multiple handseals.

"Raiton: Rairyuu no Tatsumaki no Jutsu," (Lightning Element: Lightning Dragon Tornado Technique)

Sanseki began to spin around. He was spinning so fast that a tornado was forming around him. The vortex took the shape of a dragon. It struck outward towards Hanako. She leapt out of the way thinking that it couldn't get her as long as it directly hit her. She was wrong. A bolt of lightning shot out from the vortex and struck Hanako. She screamed in agony as she was electrocuted. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, the attack ceased. Sanseki wasn't done yet. He did more handseals.

"Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu." (Earth Element: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique)

A dragon's head appeared from the ground and started firing high speed rocks in the shape of spears at Hanako. The Leaf Kunoichi wasn't about to be hit by such an attack. She quickly did a series of handseals as the attack came closer to her.

"Futon: Reppushou no Jutsu." (Wind Element: Gale Wind Palm Technique)

Hanako sent out a large gust of wind at the the attack, sending it back the other way with more force than it originally had.

"Damn it." Sanseki said as he tried to get out of the way.

He wasn't fast enough to move as his body was bombarded by multiple rocks. As Sanseki was attempting to get up, Hanako rushed him and kicked him in the face.

Hanako noticed that Junshin's and Shuji's opponent Konsui was standing nearby watching her fight with Sanseki. Multiple thoughts raced through her mind.

_What happened to Junshin and Shuji? Were they defeated already? Nah, that couldn't have happened so soon. They would've put up a much more of a fight before being beaten. But then why is he standing there and not fighting them?_

She couldn't allow her thoughts distract her from the task at hand. She needed to defeat this opponent in front of her and then possibly beat Konsui to avenge her friends if they were killed. She figured that she was going to have to fight him too.

_I'm going to have to end this fight now if I'm to fight him too. I'm low on chakra as it is. Looks like I'm going to have to show off more of my abilities now._

Hanako looked at Sanseki with a stern look. She knew she could take him out with this next attack. She extended her index and middle fingers on both hands and placed the fingers on her right hand in a vertical position in front of the fingers on her left had that were in a horizontal position.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A clone of Hanako appeared next to her. The real Hanako summoned a demon wind shuriken from a scroll and launched it at Sanseki. As expected, the Akatsuki member dodged the attack. It gave them both enough time to do a series of handseals all though they were different from the other.

"Suiton: Baku Suishouha no Jutsu." (Water Element: Bursting Water Collision Waves Technique)

She was one of the few people who had more than two chakra elements. One Hanako cocked her head back as if she were doing a Katon Jutsu but then lunged forward and released a large amount of water from her mouth. The area was flooded with water.

"Raiton: Raikyuu no Jutsu." (Lightning Element: Lightning Ball Technique)

The other Hanako slammed the ball into the water sending an electrified current towards Sanseki. Sanseki jumped into the air out of the water.

"You're gonna to have to do better than that if you want to beat me." He said.

Then suddenly water formed all around him and trapped him inside of a sphere made of water. He looked back to see that Hanako had trapped him inside of a water sphere.

"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu." (Water Element: Water Prison Technique)

"What the hell? How did you get behind me?"

"That demon wind shuriken I sent at you earlier wasn't just a distraction. It was a clone transformed into a shuriken. In reality, I was the distraction. I knew that you'd jump from the water if I tried to fry you with just soaking your feet so I sent the clone out to capture you in this technique."

At that moment, Hanako ran at full speed with preparing the same attack as before.

"Raiton: Raikyuu no Jutsu." (Lightning Element: Lightning Ball Technique)

She slammed the ball into the sphere, electrocuting Sanseki inside. Once he was dead, the Hanako clone disappeared and the sphere dissipated. She heard clapping behind her. She turned around to face Konsui who had been waiting nearby. She wondered why he didn't help Sanseki. If they would've teamed up against her then she surely would've lost.

"I am now you're opponent." Konsui said.

Hanako was already low on chakra because of her fight with Sanseki and now she had to fight an Akatsuki member who was at full strength.

"Shit." She said.


	15. Secret Jutsu

Junshin and Shuji stood ready against their Akatsuki opponent, Konsui. The Akatsuki member stood by lazily as if he knew that he could beat them. Shuji was the first to attack. His sudden movements startled Junshin who had his eyes on Konsui. Shuji drew both swords and attacked. He swung wildly, almost nonstrategic at Konsui, who was just moving around dodging the attacks. Shuji swung up high and Konsui bent backwards to avoid the blade. Shuji thrust his swords at Konsui's midsection and the Akatsuki member would just step to the side. Shuji thrust his reverse bladed sword and Konsui jumped and landed on the sword. Shuji looked absolutely astonished. No one has ever landed on the blade of his sword. The funny thing was that Shuji felt little weight added to his sword. It was no time for admiration, Shuji had a job to do as a Konoha ninja. Before Shuji could react, Konsui kicked Shuji in the face sending him out of attacking range. Junshin came from Konsui's blind side while molding a kunai in his hand to attack Konsui with. Konsui sidestepped the former Rock ninja, grabbed him by his neck and threw him into Shuji.

"This is interesting." Konsui said.

"What is?" Shuji asked.

"I'm sensing evil chakra coming from one of you but I'm not sure which. What's more intriguing is that the chakra seems slightly familiar."

Shuji looked Junshin thinking that it could've been him considering he wasn't originally from Konoha. In all reality, the Rock ninjas were never evil. They just didn't share the same views as Konoha and considered them enemies. Junshin knew better. The first thing that popped into Junshin's head was the time when Shuji went berserk and almost killed him while under the influence of the cursed seal. That had to be what Konsui was referring to.

"You're probably confusing your own." Shuji said leaping up and attacking once more.

He attacked with his two swords swinging them through the air hoping that he'd at least connect at some point. Even with his Sharingan he could see Konsui's movements before he made them but Konsui could move quick enough to avoid an attack. They were at a stalemate when it came to Shuji attacking.

"Katon: Kaen-bure-do no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Flame Blade Technique)

Shuji swung his fire blades and was able to get closer to his opponent. He came so close that he was able to set Konsui's hair on fire for a brief second before the Akatsuki put it out.

"Damn that was close."

"But not close enough." Konsui said.

Junshin reached into his leg pouch and pulled out a handful of needles. He threw them up into the sky. Junshin did a series of handseals. Dragon, Dog, Rabbit, Monkey, Ram.

"Kanamono no ame no Jutsu" (Metallic Rain Technique)

The needles became molten and smaller as they flew through the air. They separated in their liquid form and then hardened again right before they hit. Konsui slammed his hands on the ground.

"Doton:Doro Gaeshi no Jutsu." (Earth Element: Mud Overturn Technique)

A rectangle shaped piece of rock rose from the ground as if it were a draw bridge being retracted. It stopped right in front of Konsui. The majority of the needles hit the barrier but the rest were able to hit their target but not as much as Junshin would've liked. All the needles did was tear into Konsui's Akatsuki cloak.

"Well that really bites." Junshin said.

Shuji attacked again. Konsui became bored with Shuji swinging his swords at him. He moved quickly and grabbed Shuji by his neck. Once he grabbed his neck he realized that the evil chakra was coming from him. Shuji raised his sword to take a swipe at Konsui but the Akatsuki member tightened his grip and Shuji dropped his swords. The flames on his sword vanished as they hit the ground. His hands then went to Konsui's arm to try and pull it away.

"Do you think that mere Leaf ninjas can stand up to the former Ikazukage?" Konsui said.

"Ikazukage? What the hell is that? Some sort of made up Kage? Or is that the name of your little club?" Junshin asked.

"The Ikazukage was the Kage for the Hidden Steel Village. A village that was practically destroyed by evil spirits." Shuji said.

"How do you know that?" Junshin asked.

"I did research on it with Satori after our mission there that resulted in the loss of Ronin, who later became a Rock ninja and then a Reaper."

An image of the Reaper Ronin flashed through Junshin's mind.

"And all those stories about scientists not knowing what they were getting into and mining crews unleashing demonic spirits were all made up. Except for the unleashing of the demonic spirits part. You see it was me that did it. I unleashed those spirits into the village."

Junshin's and Shuji's eyes widened.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because the village would've turned on me. They wanted a new Kage and I couldn't have that. So one night I performed a special summoning that unleashed spirits into the village. I escaped before anything happened to me."

"But you're wearing a Sound head protector?"

"A new image. After I left Hidden Steel I wondered into the Sound Village and became one of their ninjas. Orochimaru would take anyone especially a former Kage. I even helped out in the invasion of Konoha three years ago and recruited the Sound Four for Orochimaru."

Shuji still tried to loosen Konsui's grip on him but it was no use. He couldn't do it. The struggle caused Konsui to turn his attention to him. He pulled Shuji closer and inspected his neck. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for.

"Just as I thought. You've got yourself a cursed seal from Orochimaru. I've got a special plan just for you. This is my own technique that I came up with. I made it just in case Orochimaru wanted to get rid of me and I could use this on anyone with a cursed seal."

His hands began to move in a fast motion doing multiple hand seals.

Both Junshin and Shuji's eyes widened.

"What? With one hand?" Junshin said.

"One handed hand seals?" Shuji said.

"Hijutsu, Shoyu Shiteiru." (Secret Jutsu, Possession)

At that moment, Shuji's cursed seal flashed and began to spread rapidly all over his body. Konsui let go of Shuji and let him drop to the ground.

"You kids have fun now. I'm going off to watch another fight." He said before leaping away.

Junshin slowly approached Shuji who was on his hands and knees. Junshin saw the cursed seal's patter cover Shuji like a rash. Junshin got closer and reached out to Shuji. Shuji's hand shot up and grabbed Junshin by his arm and threw him into the air. The possessed Shuji regained his swords and went up after Junshin.

"Shit, here he comes." Junshin said.

He molded his bracelets into a large triple bladed kunai. It almost looked like a sai except that the blades on the side were more horizontal than a standard sai. He readied himself for his friend's attack. The two friends clashed weapons. in mid air. They pushed off each other and landed on the ground below.

"Come on, Shuji. Listen to me. You're not yourself."

"If I'm not me then who am I?" Shuji asked grinning almost sadistically.

"Well, that's not going to work then."

Shuji swung his swords around his body once more. Junshin knew the pattern of swinging. He was going to do his Katon Jutsu.

"Katon: Kaen Bure-do no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Flame Blade Technique)

They clashed weapons again but this time, Shuji's swords were slicing through the kunai because of the Katon Jutsu. Junshin thought fast and made the kunai turn into liquid and mold both swords together. Junshin leapt away to a safe distance. Shuji pulled on his swords but was only able to pull his reverse blade free. He tossed the other one aside considering it useless.

Junshin threw a normal kunai at Shuji, that stuck into his shoulder. Shuji didn't seem to notice or that the cursed seal doesnt' allow him to feel anything. For whatever reason, Junshin hadn't a clue. He ran forward doing hand seals.

Raiton: Kane no denkoo no Jutsu (Lightning Element: Metallic Lightning Technique)

A lightning bolt shot from the sky and struck the kunai in Shuji's shoulder, electrocuting him. Shuji fell onto his back. Junshin walked over to him.

"I didn't want to kill him. Although I probably should have if this cursed seal has taken over his body. Hanako wouldn't have forgiven me if I had though. Hopefully, the technique will be dispelled when he..."

Junshin was cut off as he coughed up some blood onto Shuji's sword that was thrust into his chest.


	16. Didn't See It Coming

Satori and Yukino stood against Dokusha of the Hidden Rain. Satori had his black gloves on and his two sai drawn while Yukino had pulled out a simple kunai. Dokusha knew of the type of ninjas that Konoha had a tendency of producing and didn't want to take any chances. Especially fighting against two Jonin.

_Better not take any chances with these two._

He closed his dark eyes for a brief second then opened them again, revealing a set of bright green eyes with a triangular pupil. Satori's eyes widened. He recognized the eyes.

"Scouter vision." He said softly.

Yukino looked at him quizzically.

"Scouter vision? What's that?"

"It's a name we came up with for a Kekki Genkai. It's real name is Sukautogan. It has the abilities to read an opponent and know their techniques. I've only known of one other person to possess the Sukautogan."

"Who's that?

"Uragirimono Ronin."

"Oh him." Dokusha said.

That peaked Satori's interest.

"You knew Ronin?" Satori asked.

"Knew him? He was my son." Dokusha said.

Satori's eyes widened. Once Satori thought about it, it made sense. He remembered that he only knew Ronin's mother. But, Ronin was told that his father died in the Kyubi incident.

"Who's Ronin?" Yukino asked.

"Ronin was a good friend of mine until he was lost on a mission. We all thought he was dead until he attacked us as a Rock ninja. That's when your sister and I first got together. I killed him at that point but when the Reapers came, they found his body and revived it. He's the one that caused your sister to sacrifice herself."

Yukino turned her attention back to Dokusha with new determination.

"So, he's dead, huh? Can't say that I'm sorry." Dokusha said.

Satori was surprised by Dokusha's comment. Even though Ronin was dead and has caused so much grief for Satori and Konoha, he did see it to be right for his own father to be talking like that. Dokusha noticed Satori seemed to be getting angrier. He scanned Satori and knew of his abilities as well as his newly aquired Sekigan. Just because he knew of their abilities didn't mean that he could defend against them. All he could do was prepare for them. He did a series of hand seals and then put his index and middle fingers from both hands on his temples. He closed his eyes as if he was trying to get rid of a headache. Satori saw this as an opportunity to attack.

"Now's our chance." He said charging towards Dokusha.

"Satori, wait." Yukino called.

Satori didn't listen he saw an opening and he'd be damned if he was going to let it slip by. He leapt into the air and cocked his arms back ready to stab Dokusha with his weapons. He was only inches away when something invisible stopped him and threw him back the other way. Yukino caught him from the air.

"You all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Satori replied.

Dokusha opened his eyes again and this time they were orange with the same triangular pupil.

"What the hell is he up to?" Yukino asked.

"The Sukautogan doesn't just have one ability like some other eye techniques. This one is very similar to the Uchiha's Sharingan. It has different stages. Green being the first stage and just finding out a person's abilities. Orange is the second stage and this one can look into your minds."

Satori's and Yukino's eyes widened.

"Quickly, Yukino. Clear your mind." Satori said.

"It doesn't matter. It's not about what your thinking, it's deeper than that. It sees into your memories." Dokusha said.

Dokusha did more handseals. Tiger, Snake, Dog, Dragon. He then slammed his hands together.

"Shit." Satori said.

"What?"

"I recognize the order of the seals and I know what he's going to do." He said. "I've seen this before and only one other person has been able to do this and he did this when he fought the Third Hokage."

"You don't mean...?"

"Yes I do."

"Kuchiyose, Edo Tensei." (Summoning, Reincarnation to the Impure World)

An opening appeared in front of Dokusha and a coffin rose from it. The coffin door dropped revealing who was inside. Satori and Yukino almost dropped to their knees when they saw this person. It was Yukino's sister and Satori's former girlfriend, Azumi.

"I figured this person would like to say hello. Seemingly, how she was in both of your lives."

"It's good to see you again, Nee-san. You too, Satori." Azumi said.

Yukino looked as if she was about to cry. Satori didn't know what to do. This was his second time fighting against the Edo Tensei technique but he fought against the four Hokage's the other time he faced this. They weren't especially close to him as Azumi was.

"HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH THE DECEASED?" Yukino demanded.

Dokusha didn't say anything. He smiled as he pulled out a kunai with a red tag attached to it and stuck it into the back of Azumi's head.

"I'm sorry, Nee-san, Satori. It looks like I have no choice but to fight you." Azumi said.

Enraged, Satori put his extended index and middle fingers from both hands in the appropriate seal formation for Kage Bunshin.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU." (Mass Shadow Clone Technique)

Multiple Satori clones appeared all around them. The clones charged in to attack Azumi and Dokusha. The Akatsuki member fought off clones as Azumi fought against both Yukino and Satori. Although it hurt like hell to fight her, Satori and Yukino knew that as Konoha Shinobi that they had to fight to protect their village and right now Azumi was a threat. Satori leapt back and did handseals. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Great Fireball Technique)

Satori blew fire from his mouth as Yukino did handseals. Ram, Dog, Rat, Rabbit, Boar.

"Futon: Renkudan." (Wind Element: Drilling Air Bullet.)

Yukino cocked her head back and filled her lungs full of air and then released a giant amount of compressed air in the shape of a ball. The ball combined with the fire and turned into a giant fireball. Azumi leapt over the ball and did her own handseals.

"Katon: Zukokku no Jutsu." (Fire Element: Head Mincing Pain Technique)

Azumi expelled a large amount of fire from her mouth that was larger than Satori's Gokakyu. It negated Yukino and Satori's combined attack and continued towards them.

"Shit." Satori said pushing Yukino out of the way.

He did handseals and placed his left hand in the palm of his right with his thumb up.

"Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu." (Water Element: Water Encampment Wall Technique)

The Katon attack collided with the Suiton defense. Satori did his best to hold up against the Katon jutsu. The Water around Satori boiled and began to evaporate. Not only that but Satori's clothes began to burn away. He put all of his energy into the barrier. The extremity of the Katon attack evaporated the water based defense as it was dissolved by the water. A portion of Satori's vest was burned away from the attack. Azumi shot through the smoke and kicked Satori in the face sending back and slamming into a rock. Azumi began to punch Satori repeatedly. Satori was tired from blocking Azumi's Katon not to mention he still had divided his chakra up among him and his clones so he was low on chakra to begin with. Right now he wished he had Naruto's stamina. She was unusually strong. It must be a side effect of the Edo Tensei. When Satori was able to block a punch, Azumi would switch it up and kick him. Yukino ran over and kicked her dead sister off of her boyfriend. Azumi was replaced with a log and came up behind Yukino. She clasped her hands together and slammed them into Yukino's back. Satori came in to attack but was roundhouse kicked away. She grabbed Yukino by the shoulders and threw her into the air. She turn her attention to the dazed Satori. Satori looked up to Azumi who was standing over him. She drew a small dagger from her leg pouch and raised it high above her head. The last thing that Satori saw was Azumi bringing down the dagger and darkness.


	17. Yukino Finishes Him

Satori awoke in a Konoha hospital room. His head hurt like hell as well as his upper body. Actually, he ached all over. He shifted his head and noticed that Yukino was asleep with her head resting on the bed next to his knees. Her hand held his. He noticed that bandages were attached to Yukino's face. He saw Tenten sitting in a chair against the wall. She was also asleep. She was wearing a different outfit than her typical white and maroon one. He saw that she too also was bandaged up and could tell that her stomach was wrapped due to the position of her shirt

_She must've been wounded too._

His body ached more as he tried to lean up. His movements awoke Yukino. She raised her head and saw that Satori was awake. She smiled came across her face as well as a look of relief.

"You're awake." She said.

Tenten awoke at the commotion. She looked at her brother and tears of happiness began to form at the base of her eyes. She ran to her brother and hugged him tightly. He kinda winced in pain but it was worth bearing as long as his sister was happy. After she let go of him, he shifted himself to lean against the headboard of the bed.

"I'm going to get the others." Tenten said before leaving the room.

Yukino noticed a few scars that ran along Satori's torso. She was a bit taken back by the sight of them. It wasn't that they were gruesome or anything like that. It was more of the fact that she has never noticed them before.

"I've never noticed those scars before."

"I usually keep them hidden by using a technique that the Fifth taught me."

She noticed a big one that ran down the right side of his torso.

"Where did that one come from?"

"Remember awhile back, when Konoha was under attack by those four ninjas that resurrected four of the twelve guardian ninjas?"

Yukino nodded.

"Well, Arihiro and I along with my father, Kotetsu, Izumo, Hinata, Kiba and a some others were stationed at the front gates fighting zombies."

"Zombies?"

"Yeah. Those rogue ninjas had a Jutsu that resurrected ninjas that they had just killed only moments earlier. They weren't hard to fight but they had numbers. Well, Arihiro and I were overwhelmed by them and almost killed. They tore into us almost killing us but Hinata and Kiba were able to get to us in time. We were rushed to the hospital and were left with these nice little gifts." He said pointing to his scar.

At that moment, Tenten returned with Hanako, Aoba, Rikku, Naruto, Sakura, Shizune and Tsunade. Hanako, and Rikku were in bandages. Satori was a bit surprised at the sight of Naruto and Sakura being there but then he remembered that they were due back the same day they left. Satori wasn't even sure if that was today or yesterday. It might as well as been last week.

"Glad to see your awake." Tsunade said.

Satori smiled but then noticed the slightly saddened faces among his friends.

"At least you made it." Rikku said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Satori asked.

"Here's the story after you were injured." Yukino said.

THE REST OF THE STORY

The remaining Satori clones began to disappear in clouds of smoke. Dokusha reached into his pouch and pulled out cards. He then threw them at the remaining Satori clones before they disappeared. The cards attached themselves to the forehead protectors of the clones. They all stopped in their tracks and their eyes turned red.

Meanwhile, Yukino rushed in and kicked Azumi across the face, completely blindsiding her.

"Get off of him." She said.

Yukino knelt down and felt for a pulse. Once she found one, a bit of relief spread across her body. She then grabbed both of Satori's sai and held them in an attack posture. She stared down the abomination that has taken the shape of her sister. She charged in to attack. Azumi threw kunai and shuriken but Yukino dodged the attack. Yukino read up on the forbidden jutsu known as Edo Tensei. She knew that so far the only way to beat it was to pull the sacrificed soul out of the body but she didn't know how to do that herself. Then she thought of a way. While holding Satori's weapons, she was able to do the seals of the Boar and Tiger.

"Doton: Yomi Numa no Jutsu." (Earth Element: Swamp of the Underworld Technique)

Azumi went to jump into the air after her sister but she couldn't move. She looked down to see that she was caught in Yukino's technique and was sinking. She struggled furiously to get out but it was to no avail. Yukino landed near the edge and watched her sister sink. A tear formed and escaped from her eye's base.

"Goodbye, Azumi." She said as she saw the last of her sister submerge beneath the swamp.

She took a deep breath and turned to face Dokusha. It appeared that the clones had done their fair share of damage to Dokusha. They had even torn his Akatsuki robe. She noticed that the clone army had dissipated to a mere eight clones. She wondered why they didn't disappear when Satori went down. Then she saw the cards on their forehead protectors. They were under his control. Without warning the clones charged. Yukino readied herself with her boyfriend's weapons. She spun them around in her hands and attacked the oncoming clones. She stabbed one in the chest and another in the throat. They both disappeared. She threw both sai into two clones, did a hand stand, grabbed another clone by his head and threw him into another clone causing both to disappear all before the two clones with a sai in them disappeared. She grabbed both sai out of the air, jumped up and stabbed to the two remaining clones in the head. Yukino was surrounded by the smoke that the clones left as they disappeared.

Dokusha looked on as the smoke cleared to reveal Satori and Yukino standing there. Satori's fist was on fire. He was a bit surprised to see Satori standing from the beating he got but he wasn't one to be taken lightly. Satori charged, jumped onto Yukino's shoulders and leapt into the air and cocked his arm back ready to deliver the final blow. At the last second, Dokusha sidestepped him and Satori's fist slammed into the ground. He backed up to keep both Leaf ninjas in his sight. Then both ninjas disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Dokusha's eyes widened. Then suddenly, Dokusha felt two blades stick through his neck. His eyes gazed down at the bloody blades of the two sai weapons. He even felt four more blades sticking into the back of his head and lower part of his neck.

"Those were two of my clones one of which transformed into Satori. If you couldn't figure that out." Yukino said.

Then Yukino pulled both sai from his neck but it wasn't from where she stuck them in. She pulled them out from both sides of his neck, decapitating him.


	18. Goodbye

Satori sat there impressed and proud of his girlfriend. Then a bit of confusion overcame his face.

"That still doesn't answer my question. What did you mean by saying at least I made it?" He asked.

Tenten stepped forward.

"I'll tell you my part of the story, Nii-chan."

TENTEN'S PART OF THE STORY

Tenten ran through the battlefields from the multiple battles that took place here. She had bandaged her wound with the banages she had with her. It wasn't the best job but she'd survive. She came into a clearing and saw one of the worst things she could ever see; Junshin clutching Shuji's sword that had impaled through his chest. She sprinted over to the two of them. Shuji got to his feet just as Tenten got there. She noticed that Shuji's cursed seal had taken over and images of the time when Shuji attacked her flashed through her mind. She jumped in the air and kicked Shuji across the face. Shuji let go of his sword and flew back into into some trees. Junshin fell back into her arms as they both slumped to the ground. Junshin rested on her knees, breathing heavily. Tenten pulled the sword out of Junshin's chest as he yelled in pain. Once the sword was out, Junshin slightly relaxed.

"It's ok. I'm here." Tenten said. "Everything is going to be all right."

"I know it will be." Junshin replied weakly.

"HANAKO! MASAKI! SOMEONE HELP!" Tenten yelled into the air.

Masaki came running through the woods and saw Tenten and Junshin. She darted over to them and began her medical ninjutsu to heal Junshin.

"He's lost a lot of blood. I'll do my best." Masaki said.

Tenten looked over and saw Shuji emerge from the bushes. He drew a kunai and charged at them. He was in striking range and everyone flinched. They opened their eyes to see that Shuji hadn't attacked. They looked up to see Shuji still standing there. He dropped the kunai and looked at his hands. The cursed seal was fading. It wasn't retracting like it did before but it faded.

"It's gone. The cursed seal is gone." Shuji said halfway excited.

Shuji then felt a slight tingle in his eyes. Masaki noticed some activity in his eyes. She looked closer and saw a third tomoe forming.

"Shuji, you have a third tomoe in your Sharingan now."

Shuji's smile grew.

"My Sharingan is evolving now."

"SHUJI, HELP!"

That was Hanako's voice. In an instant he grabbed his reverse blade sword and darted to where her voice came from. Tenten and Masaki returned their attention to Junshin.

Tenten stopped her story there.

"Hanako is going to have to fill you in now. She can tell you the rest of the story." Tenten said.

HANAKO'S CONTINUATION OF THE STORY.

Hanako stared at her new Akatsuki opponent. Konsui took off his Akatsuki robe and tossed it aside. He then reached behind him and pulled out two weapons. They looked like the tips of spears. They had points on one end and flat on the other. Held them in a similar fashion as Satori with his two sai. He attacked her by thrusting his weapons at her. She did her best at dodging them. However, when she would dodge the weapons, he'd kick at her. She'd either block it or take the blow. He then tossed both weapons on the ground and found more pleasure in just beating the hell out of her. He punched her repeatedly and would throw a kick or two into the mix. She did her best to defend herself but she seemed so helpless at his speed.

"HANAKO! MASAKI! SOMEONE HELP!" A voice called out.

Hanako recognized it as Tenten's voice. She knew she was needed but she couldn't get away from this guy to go help her friends.

_I'm sorry, Tenten. I can't get to you._

Konsui stopped his assault, grabbed his weapons and flipped backwards. He landed a few feet away from Hanako. He attached the two weapons together turning it into a lance like weapon. He pointed it at Hanako and began his assault again. Hanako knew she didn't have the strength to block or to move. She needed help.

"SHUJI, HELP!"

Konsui was only feet away when Shuji came out of no where with his sword drawn.

"Mikadzuki no Mai." (Dance of the Cresent Moon)

Shuji charged at his Akatsuki opponent creating multiple shadow clones confusing Konsui. Using the confusin to his advantage, the real Shuji came from Konsui's blindside, sliced off his arm, faced Hanako, turn the sword around and pointed it behind him as he stabbed Konsui in the chest. Konsui let go of his weapon as he stumbled back. He pulled out Shuji's sword and threw it on the ground. Shuji fell to his knees and then onto his side. Hanako dropped to her knees to tend to Shuji. She wondered why Shuji fell like that. Then she noticed that when he stabbed Konsui behind him, Konsui had also stabbed Shuji with his weapon. She pulled out the weapon and tossed it aside. She grabbed Shuji's face and forced him to look her in the eyes.

"Come on, Shuji. Stay with me. We'll get you back and everything will be fine."

She heard rustling and turned around to see Tenten and Masaki supporting Junshin as they walked. Hanako ran over to them.

"Masaki, I need you to help me with repairing Shuji's injuries. I'm too low on chakra to do it myself." Hanako said.

Masaki nodded. Then her eyes widened. Hanako turned around to see Konsui in striking distance. Then suddenly, Shuji leapt onto his back despite his wound. He took his sword and stabbed it into the top of Konsui's shoulder.

"Junshin, do it. I know you touched my sword when we fought."

"Get off him and I will." Junshin said.

"If I do that then he'll just pull it out. You know damn well that this is the only way."

The heavy breathing Junshin gathered his chakra preparing for this attack. Shuji watched as Junshin extended his index and middle fingers and raised them to head level.

It looked as if everything was moving in slow motion to Shuji. Shuji thought back to different memories in his life. The time when he became a ninja, the time he took the Chuunin Exam and got the cursed seal, meeting and killing his father. So many memories flashed through his mind. One of his favorite memories was when he obtained his Sharingan.

FLASHBACK

Shuji, Rikku and Kuma stood between an injured Yaiba and a group of mysterious ninjas. Him and his team scattered to fight these ninjas. He pulled his sword and stabbed one and then kicked another. Then suddenly, it was as he could see things before they happened. It was like he could predict the movements of the others in his sight. He saw one make a move for the unsuspecting Rikku. He raced over and stabbed him in the back and pulled the sword out through the guy's head.

"Hey, that was my brother." One of them yelled.

"Tough shit. I killed him." Shuji said before killing that guy.

Him and his team quickly dispearsed the mysterious ninja group only seconds after that.

END FLASHBACK

Shuji nodded to Junshin.

_Goodbye_

"KATSU!"

The sword exploded taking Shuji and Konsui with it.

Satori sat there not knowing what to say. He was saddened that he lost one of his close friends. Satori looked around the room.

"Where is Junshin?"

"Right next to you."

Satori looked to his left and the curtain was pulled back to reveal that Junshin was in the bed next to him. He smiled knowing that his teammate was all right but it faded when an image of Shuji entered his mind.

"So Shuji was able to get a third tomoe for his Sharingan, eh?" Satori asked.

Hanako nodded.

"That figures. His cursed seal disappears, his Sharingan gets better and then he dies." Satori said trying to smile.

He knew that Shuji wouldn't have gone out any other way.

The next day, everyone gathered at the grave site that was marked "Anzen Shuji." His grave stone was next to his mother's. Satori looked up at the overcast sky hoping it would rain. He hoped that it would rain so that it would hide his tears. Yukino noticed Satori and knew what he was up to. She put an arm around him and pulled him close.

Later that day, Satori stood on a hilltop. Multiple things went through his head. The death of Shuji, seeing Azumi again. He couldn't help but feel as if something big was coming. He knew Naruto was busy with trying to get that code that Jiraiya left figured out. He couldn't wait for Akatsuki to be brought down. With the events that passed while fighting the Akatsuki familiars, he wanted to even more so help Naruto take down Akatsuki. He was so trained on his thoughts that he didn't notice Yukino's presence.

"I don't care what anyone says. Even though Shuji was only half Uchiha, he was more of an Uchiha than Itachi and Sasuke." Satori said.

"Satori, I have something to tell you." Yukino said.

Satori turned his attention to Yukino. Her voice sounded a bit urgent.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm pregnant."


End file.
